


Tech Support

by KireinaAme



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Getting Together, Humor, M/M, Romance, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-10 21:51:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7009531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KireinaAme/pseuds/KireinaAme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haru is a miserable office worker who hates writing reports and talking on the phone. But a chance call with a friendly stranger suddenly has him looking forward to going into work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. RPPS Reports

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on [THIS](http://silverandsapphire.tumblr.com/post/141755982645/take-your-fandom-to-work-day) tumblr prompt that kept me up at night with ideas. 
> 
> So because this story is based on my own work experience (and I live in the U.S.) I had to make certain aspects of the setting very non-Japanese. And I wanted to keep everything as factual as possible so just consider this universe somewhere in a place that’s half American and half Japanese. Just work with me – it’s an AU.
> 
> And since this story is based on real life events/people, I did change details that could be directly linked to my actual workplace. Part of me wishes I was not able to say this truthfully but… this ENTIRE story is based on true life events. (Except I never had a Makoto… which is unjust, I tell you.) Names and places have been changed to protect the innocent and the _not-so-innocent._
> 
> Welcome to my office.

Haru didn’t want this job. He wasn’t supposed to be offered this job. He answered every interview question honestly and without all the bullshit niceties you were supposed to use in trying to _not_ get this job. He didn’t dress nicely, puff himself up, or flaunt his abilities. He hadn’t even bothered researching the company beforehand. He arrived to his scheduled interview with barely an understanding of what they did and he hadn’t cared. Not to mention he didn’t have any knowledge about budgeting, finance, or credit. (And he was pretty sure the company had something to do with boring shit like that.) And he did not hesitate to tell every person who interviewed him his lack of knowledge/experience directly, _unapologetically_.

_“So can you name the three credit reporting agenices?”_

_“No.”_

_“Are you sure? Not even one? Take your time.”_

_“No, I don’t know them.”_

Haru had wanted to bomb the interview so bad that he could not possibly be offered a position in this company, no matter how desperate they were for new employees. He had other dreams, _bigger_ dreams, for himself. And having to move to this town to take a job he cared not a whit about was not on his agenda. But when his interview lasted well past the third hour and he had met with at least five separate individuals from upper management (none of which he bothered to learn their names), he started to wonder what it would take to scare these people off.

Thinking nothing of breaking yet another cardinal rule of getting a job, he actually asked to leave. It was his day off and after having to drive an hour to keep this appointment, he didn’t want to spend any more time locked inside this almost completely windowless building than necessary. He put up all appearances of seriously interviewing for this job (as much as he could fake, anyway) as he could handle. All just for the sake of shutting his parents up. And after being pushed to listen to live calls with clients for a job he wasn’t going to have for the past half an hour, he was ready to walk.

_“I need to leave.”_

_“Eh? What? Why? Shouldn’t you talk to the managers first? They sat you with me to listen to calls, after all.”_

_“I’ve been here over three hours. And they never explained why they sat me here. I’m leaving now.”_

_“O-oh… ok then.”_

Completely apathetic as to the consequences of his actions, Haru left the office without a backwards glance.

So when he received a letter in the mail within the week offering him a full-time position, he was beside himself in shock. Obviously these people were insane to want to hire him after all that. What was worse was that he couldn’t decline. Oh, he wanted to, _so badly_. And would have without hesitation. But the sneaky fuckers addressed the letter to his parents’ house and they had it waiting for him on the coffee table when he arrived home. He had an enraptured audience of controlling parents as he opened the letter. The moment they knew it was an official offer for employment, he couldn’t think of a legitimate reason (or even a shitty one, _anything_ would have been sufficient) fast enough to please both his parents for why he should decline.

And that’s how Haru landed the job he never wanted.

* * *

The sun was shining and the weather was beautiful. It was a perfect day to be outside, free and unencumbered. Haru only knew that by proxy, of course, judging from the limited amount of sunlight streaming in through the skinny window at his back. It was roughly three or four feet tall but barely a foot wide and only offered a glimpse of the world outside. He figured it spoke volumes of the state of his work environment that he often imagined breaking the glass with the wheels from his desk chair and shimmying his body out of the window, escaping to the parking lot outside.

Those daydreams were becoming more and more common as his life-force slowly drained away the longer he stayed in his current job. He reminded himself that at least he was lucky to have proven himself capable enough on the company food chain to have been awarded with the cubicle location he had. Not only did he have one of only five windows available on this floor of the office (unless you were a _big wig_ with a private office, that is) but also his cubicle being placed against the wall with the four-foot tall desk barrier between him and the rest of the floor meant relative privacy.

He figured he needed reminding of these particular blessings because his eyes felt like they were going to cross any moment now and that window behind him was becoming too awfully tempting. All of the tiny numbers displayed in front of him on one of two computer screens on his desk were starting to blur together, swirling together in a whirlpool of gibberish instead of neatly arranged in a table on a very full spreadsheet. Dark blue eyes blinked a few times as he shook his head to clear his thoughts. All focus and drive he had to complete this report in a timely fashion died out an hour ago. The only motivation that kept him going was the cruel threat of necessary overtime, should he need more time to complete this task and have it turned it before close of business. However, the thought of being stuck inside that office building any more than necessary was a very effective threat to promote productivity.

A hex on whoever created RPPS Reports and decided to curse him with the job of having to _care_ about them.

Giving up momentarily on the Excel spreadsheet, _which he really needed to be concentrating on but could no longer give any damns about_ , he minimized it to pull up the company’s clientele program instead (most commonly referred to as ‘RDS’). Perhaps if he just completed one or two brainless tasks, let himself run on autopilot for a little while, he’d be able to work up the energy enough to suffer through the rest of the report until his lunch break.

Selecting the icon to bring up the program, it only took a few knowledgeable clicks for him to pull up his daily task list. Eight-seven tasks total were assigned to him for the day. Not terrible. He opened the one at the top of the list, all meticulously organized by scheduled date and issue-type like he preferred it, and started on the task – correcting a failed creditor proposal. Nearly all of his assigned daily responsibilities were the fault of one single department – Originations.

The Originations counselors, named after the fact that all clients _originated_ from their department, were also called the Enrollment counselors. But that name gave them way too much credit. The only time you could hear them referred to as such was when a counselor was actually talking to a client on the phone as they tried to make that rag-tag department sound more professional than it actually was. However, being the first counselors to touch a client’s account, they were also the first with the opportunity to make mistakes. And mistakes they did make, in abundance. Unfortunately, considering upper management operated like a greedy, desperate band of pirates waiting for new clientele to suck money out of, the department was encouraged to ignore mistakes in lieu of tying clients down to the agreement as fast as possible.

After all, they had Haru’s department to heave the problems onto anyway.

These tasks were laughably easy for the most part. Originations counselors selecting the wrong creditor ID out of sheer laziness or ignorance was an all too common error. So it only took a few expert selections on the client’s screen to assign the right biller information, queue a new proposal, schedule the hold date, notate to the task, and close it. All done within a two-minute timeframe.

Haru supposed that was another blessing to add to his list: being paid to fix embarrassingly easy errors.

Completing that first task didn’t give him much satisfaction though. Haru still did not feel like returning to that damned spreadsheet yet. Instead he decided to pull up another one. It wasn’t like they really took up much time to complete, not to mention they made his daily numbers look that much more impressive.

Haru glanced at the next task. Another easy one, almost identical to the first. Scoffing softly, Haru couldn’t bite back his condemnation.

“Stupid Originations counselors, not even bothering to match the account numbers to the… Wait…”

A pop-up. An _error_ pop-up. An error pop-up that was preventing him from completing this simple, inane task.

Gritting his teeth, Haru decided this was the universe’s way of saying he needed to take a break at this point in the day – RPPS reports be damned. He needed to save his work, walk away from his cubicle-shaped prison, and step outside in the fresh air for a few minutes. But when he went to close out of this particular account –

“You have got to be kidding me.”

The exact same pop-up error blinked on his screen. And as he’d come to expect from this poorly constructed program, all of the error messages were written in code to help the IT professionals _only_. The random array of letters, numbers, and characters did absolutely nothing to tell him what went wrong or what to do about it.

So instead of trying to leave that client’s account, Haru opted to just be done with the whole thing. He was in no mood to fight through those obnoxious error messages. He’d rather take his break and go back to that absurd report instead. So grabbing ahold of his mouse again, he tried to close out of the entire program. Except…

“Fuck me.”

He couldn’t even close the RDS program out and return to his spreadsheet. Wait. _Oh god_ , did he even save it?!

The previous task he was able to complete was conceptually no different than this one. There was nothing special or different about this client’s account, this creditor error, or the necessary actions to fix it. So why in the _hell_ was he stuck in this labyrinth of error messages?

After endless clicks everywhere on his screen to try anything just for the sake of saving his Excel spreadsheet, he was convinced that he had found the universe’s black hole. And it existed in this client’s account.

“Piece of crap software purchased at the lowest bidder.”

The only thing he could do now was either a full reboot of his server – _fuck that_ , he wasn’t losing that goddamn RPPS report – or he could call tech support. Haru barely contained the anger that urged him to toss his computer screen out the window behind him. So his choices were: possibly lose all of the work he had spent the last two hours squinting at tiny numbers to complete… or suffer through small talk on the phone with a stranger just for the possibility that they’ll be able to fix it without forcing said reboot anyway.

…Or he could just leave his employee badge on his desk and walk out.

For a reason he himself couldn’t fathom, he skipped option number three (though it was the most alluring) and pulled out his cell phone. Being unable to leave or even minimize the malfunctioning program left him unable to utilize the damn office phone that sat useless on his desk to his right. So now he’d have to give the third-party IT company hired to service their office his personal cell phone number.

Haru blinked a few times at his cell phone before immediately deciding against that. It sounded like a terrible idea. Talking. To a stranger. On his personal cell phone number. Which they would save in their report. _Screw that_. He set his cell phone back down on his desk and pushed it away from him, as if the distance would prevent him from calling for IT assistance.

Besides, who knew if the problem was with the RDS program itself or maybe just an error in his user profile. Haru had worked there long enough to realize that if the error was with his user profile (meaning it _only_ happened to him), he would be forced to reboot anyway. No way around it. So if that were the case, he’d have to _suck it up, buttercup_ and reboot his server. He would gladly swallow the pain of having to re-do most of the RPPS Report in lieu of making that phone call if he didn’t have to.

So there was only one way to test that theory before needing to worry about a hypothetical phone call. And all he would need is a willing victim to test his theory.

After jotting down the client’s identification number on a yellow notepad, Haru stood up from his cramped office chair and did a quick stretch skyward, feeling his joints pop as he did so. Popular culture told him that working out in the morning before work was supposed to keep him energized for the rest of his day. He called bullshit. But it didn’t stop him from enjoying the completely empty gym pool nearly every morning. Being a naturally early riser and having a clear disdain for most people kept him to his early morning swim routine.

_Ah, speaking of gym rats_ , he knew exactly who he needed to talk to.

* * *

Approaching another cubicle on the other side of the first floor (one of the few other locations blessed with a _poor excuse_ for a window), he saw the redhead he was searching for: one of the two team leaders for the Originations department.

As much as Haru loathed that department in general, Rin was one of the reasons it had not crashed and burned long ago. Fighting against the powers that be, he had managed to convince them time and again that _quality_ matters considerably more than _quantity_ when it came to their profit margin. And they trusted him, of course, because he was never one to make bold claims without having the impressive documentation to prove it. But their bosses were all ignorant and bullheaded and he found himself having to fight that same fight at least a few times a year.

Haru did not envy Rin for that one bit.

The other man’s desk was a little wider than his own, giving him more room for the multiple folders and trays he had haphazardly spread around.  Rin had claimed on more than one occasion that he _did_ have an organizational system, even if Haru or anyone couldn’t see it. He knew _exactly_ where everything was in his pile of chaos. Haru would have thought he was just full of shit if he didn’t already know how obsessive Rin was in his own home when it came to how clean and organized everything needed to be. Haru was pretty sure his work desk looked like that because their company knew how to break people.

“Rin, you busy?”

He watched as Rin pulled back his lips to bare his unnaturally sharp teeth. It most certainly was not a smile, more like he was trying to display his threat status to his computer screen. “Yeah, _I’m busy_. I’m in the middle of this RTA for Bank of Japan and everything about it is pissing me off. It’s like the counselor didn’t even _try_.”

Ah, that explains it. RTAs, or _Real Time Audits_ , were something that he was very glad had not been hoisted off onto his own department. As much as he despised RPPS Reports, he’d sooner guard them fiercely over dealing with the audits that had to be done before proposals could even be _considered_ for BOJ. Bank of Japan was just one of those creditors everyone in their office was convinced was created for the sole purpose of murdering your spirit.

“Yeah, have fun with that,” Haru offered with a sarcastic raise of his eyebrow. It was worth it to hear the low growl emanating from his friend.

“Rin, if you have a moment I need you to go to this CID,” Haru more commanded than asked, handing over the piece of paper with the client identification number on it. He knew already that his friend wouldn’t likely deny him unless he _actually_ had to, depending on how urgent the current RTA was.

“What? Why?”

“It’s an experiment. It’s important.”

Want Rin to do something for you? Pique his curiosity. (Or challenge him, but Haru rarely felt like employing that trick.) Not that the same strategy didn’t occasionally work on Haru  as well. He was well aware of that. But it also took a lot more to catch his interest through the layers of apathy shielding him. Feeling a small amount of satisfaction when Rin leaned back from his screen and away from the RTA report, Haru presented the yellow paper. Rin’s sharp, maroon eyes studied the sticky note for a brief moment, one hand unconsciously tucking his red hair behind an ear, before he grabbed it from Haru’s hand and pressed it into his desk. Haru moved in closer to Rin’s chair to see his screen more easily as the other copied the number into the RDS program to pull it up.

“So what do you need me to look at?”

“So I was in the middle of changing an account. Double-click on the store card right there.”

Rin did as instructed and they both watched as another window popped up within the RDS program, detailing the credit card information.

“Ok so everything looks normal so far. What were you trying to do?” Rin scrolled all the way to the bottom before going back to the top, his eyes trying to catch anything that looked out of place.

“Well, click the creditor ID field and see if it’ll let you select a new one. I was trying to change that when…” Haru trailed off as he noticed the same exact error pop-up on Rin’s screen as was on his own. Well, at least the good news was that whatever the error, it wasn’t specifically tied to Haru’s profile.

“Fuck, an error…”

Judging by Rin’s surprised response, Haru figured this was his first time seeing this particular pop-up as well. Now the only thing left to test was to see if Rin’s user profile had permissions different than his to allow him to exit the never-ending cycle of pop-up hell. If not, well, then now they were both stuck.

“Just click through it.” Haru directed, watching as Rin carelessly clicked the pop-up away without a care. “Now try to change the account status.”

“The hell?”

“So that still doesn’t work.” Another pop-up, same error. Haru didn’t even flinch. He already assumed that Rin was victim number two. Though Rin was slowly getting worked up about it, which never failed in amusing Haru. “Ok, now try to leave this creditor account.”

“What the _fuck_?!”

“Ok, now try to exit out of RDS altogether.”

Rin was back to gritting his teeth, his fingers gripping the computer mouse even tighter in his fist as he clicked through the error message. With a more forceful click than necessary on the little red ‘x’, Rin tried to close out of RDS.

“SHIT!”

Haru knew he should probably run while he still could but Rin was making it too easy to get a rise out of him with this. And nothing cheered Haru up more when he was frustrated with his job than riling the redhead up. “And now try to pull up any other document or program you have open.”

“Oh my god, I’m _STUCK_!”

“Good, it’s not just me then.”

His friend whipped around in his chair to face him, a whirl of red fury, the anger on his face making him look practically animalistic. Haru stood up straight and took a step back, fighting to keep the amused smirk off his face that he _knew_ would send Rin over the edge.

“YOU SET ME UP TO GET STUCK?!”

“Someone had to be my guinea pig.”

Rin was practically vibrating with barely restrained anger. And Haru knew it was mostly out of being tricked and not from possibly losing the RTA he had been working on. They had been friends long enough for Haru to be able to read that much and it was the only thing that kept him from truly feeling guilty. However, that didn’t mean he was _safe_. So he tried to play it off cool as he pivoted on one foot and marched back to his own cubicle and away from Rin’s territory.

Though he did pause just a moment when he realized he was being pelted with pens, alligator clips, and balls of paper as Rin yelled at him.

“You better call tech, Haru! And I mean pick up the goddamn phone and actually SPEAK to someone! If I find out you just emailed a ticket I will personally show up at your dinky gym pool and drain it of every last DROP OF WATER!!!”

Haru considered Rin’s threat. He considered what was demanded of him, what his punishment would be. And then he remembered the wrath on Rin’s face.

_Worth it_.

* * *

Returning to his drab cubicle against the wall and away from the noisy chaos that was Rin’s department, Haru sunk into his desk chair. Swiveling it around to face his two computer screens, one still locked up with that same message error staring back at him while the other screen was logged into a different server and unable to assist him getting his report back. He knew if he desired to save himself those hours of mind-numbing effort he had put into the report, he _had_ to call tech support. No way around it.

Really, Haru didn’t rightly care about Rin’s own work that was on the line, the _almost_ as deplorable RTA he had been working on. It wasn’t that he was a bad friend, per se. But he wasn’t so sacrificing as to expend the necessary energy and emotion into caring about yet another stupid part of this life-sucking job. It was bad enough that he still cared about losing his own reports, let alone someone else’s.

But knowing that Rin was also now waiting on him to find a solution did add a touch of guilt to his conscience. So he was going to do it. _Dammit_. Haru was actually going to call tech support, speak to a complete stranger, suffer through a phone call with said complete stranger, and waste who knows how long of his day just in the name of saving his RPPS reports.

“I hate my life.”

Muttering other colorful curses under his breath, he picked up his cell phone and leaned forward on his desk to further hide behind the protective walls of his cubicle. The IT company’s phone number had been saved in his contacts for ages, specifically to have on hand for _other_ team members who needed it, but this was the first time he was using it.

_“You have reached Karo IT Support. If you have an existing ticket open and need to speak to a specific support professional, you may enter their extension at any time. If you need to report an error and have not yet opened a ticket, press ‘1’ now.”_

Haru huffed and pressed the number on his key pad with more annoyance than he really meant to. It only rang once before a chipper male voice answered the phone, personifying everything that Haru wasn’t at the moment.

“Thank you for calling Karo IT! Tachibana speaking! How can I help you today?”

Though, Haru had to admit that he had a _really_ nice voice. It was warm and calming, but also smooth and a little attractive. More than a little attractive. Ok so _maybe_ the man had an extremely attractive voice. Even if he did sound a little too happy about life for Haru at the moment. Feeling even grumpier than before, he had to rub the tension from the bridge of his noise with his thumb and forefinger.

“Yes, my RDS program locked up with an error,” Haru immediately led into his explanation, not bothering to mask his frustration. “It won’t let me close out the program or even access any of my other open files. I had a coworker try the same actions in the same client account I was in when it occurred and now their system is also locked up. So it is something attached to the actions or the specific client’s account. And I do _not_ want to reboot.”

Honestly, he knew better than to start the phone conversation this way. He had been in the position of taking customer service phone calls for the majority of his employment before being promoted to a research position. (And honestly, he wasn’t sure how he managed not to rage quit his job a lot sooner because taking phone calls all day, every day, was one of the most painful things a person could demand of him.)

Haru knew that whenever you called any kind of customer service, you should answer their initial questions as quickly and briefly as possible. Mostly this is because they have job-required caller verification process they have to complete plus a computer system to get through before they can even pull up your account. So word-vomiting your life story to them from the onset only frustrates both parties because you _will_ end up having to repeat yourself.

And Haru knew this. Still, here he was, doing exactly what he knew he _shouldn’t_ do. Haru blamed it on hating phone conversations and wanting to make this as expedient as possible. It had nothing to do with his surprising (and awkward) thoughts about the tech support’s attractive voice.

“Ok, I promise not to reboot your session.” Tachibana finally answered, chuckling good-naturedly after the extended pause. “Sounds like you have important work you might lose if I do.”

“Y-yeah…”

Haru’s head lowered closer to the laminate surface of his desk, feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Damn this man for being so friendly and reasonable with that charming voice while he was being miserable. He almost wished he were speaking to someone else, someone just as moody and unsatisfied with their line of work, just so he would feel less vulnerable on the phone.

“Ok, let’s start with opening the ticket. Your name?”

“Nanase. My user extension in the system is 7035.”

“Ah! Here you are!” Haru could practically feel the radiance of the man’s smile through the phone. “I’m in your profile now so hang on the line with me. I’ll see if I can fix it for you right now so that you don’t have to wait. If not, I will at least save your work from being lost before I force-close the program.”

“Thank you…”

Never having felt more awkward in his life, which was saying something, Haru couldn’t believe he actually silently accepted this man’s offer to stay on the line with him. As Tachibana worked on his account he could hear a few light breaths against the receiver and the clicking of the mouse against his ear. It all felt a little overwhelming. Normally he would have reported the problem and hung up on the other representative, expecting a phone call or email response once the work had been completed. He was not one to voluntarily extend already forced conversations with anyone. So all of this was new territory for Haru. And he hated it.

“So, Nanase-san…”

Oh god, here was the part where the stranger insisted on making small talk. Ask how the traffic was coming into work, ask how the day’s going, or worse – _how the weather was_.

“…Isn’t it kind of nice getting a break like this?”

“What?”

Damn, he didn’t mean for that to come out so harsh. But this guy really had a knack for catching him off-guard.

“I mean, not that I’m thankful for system errors or anything. Well, I mean… I am, I guess, considering it’s keeping me employed and all. But, what I mean is, when something unexpected happens and it forces you to stop what you’re doing and take a break. Isn’t that kind of nice? Maybe it’s just me.”

If that rambling was Tachibana’s version of being awkward and weird it was downright unfair. Instead of coming off as unapproachable and angry like Haru often did, he was just… _cute_. And dammit he didn’t want to think of some random stranger he was forced into a phone conversation with as _cute_.

Vaguely Haru wondered when it last was that he had been on a date. Or laid. Hell, when was the last time he even had a _crush_ on someone. It had certainly been years.

Shit, the guy was still waiting for an answer, wasn’t he?

“No… it’s not just you.”

And Haru supposed he was right actually. Slowly straightening up from his uncomfortable position folded over his desk, he peeked outside the safety of his cubicle walls. Everyone else was working, concentrating on a client phone call or completing assignments. They were all absorbed in the banality of their job, working as mindless automatons. But instead here he was, not doing anything but talking to an overly jovial IT guy.

Ok, so this was better than work. In fact, it was kind of nice. Imagine that.

Tachibana chuckled once more, the sound joyful and relieved at Haru’s participation in the conversation. “Oh! I’m glad!”

“But… Isn’t this still working for you?”

“Eh? Well, yeah, I suppose. But it’s nice getting to talk on the phone with someone else for a while. Otherwise I’d be working on reports and other open tickets in silence. It gets kind of lonely. I like this better.”

“I hate talking on the phone.”

_Oh god_ , his mouth was just trying to embarrass him, wasn’t it? Quick, Haru scolded himself, make that sound like less of an insult!

“…usually.”

Ugh, terrible save. But he would take what he could get.

“Oh? I don’t mind it myself. Well, as long as I’m not being yelled at because of whatever problem happened, of course. That happens sometime. I really don’t enjoy those calls.”

Haru huffed out a soft laugh in agreement. He’d had plenty of those too. He could imagine that this guy would handle those calls much differently from himself though. If pushed far enough, Haru would just place the client on mute and walk away from his desk while they screamed. While those calls didn’t always end well, he figured it should be considered an acceptable alternative to Haru merely telling the client what he _honestly_ thought of them and their problem.

Tachibana laughed again and Haru let the sound warm him, choosing not to fight it this time. Maybe the world truly was ending but he was enjoying this conversation and no longer felt like second-guessing it.

“Sounds like you know the kind of phone calls I’m talking about.”

Haru felt himself smiling, one hand reaching up to brush through his black hair as he continued to lean down low on his desk for privacy. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“That’s why I’m grateful to get to talk to _you_ now, Nanase-san. So thank you!”

Blinking at his computer screen, Haru tried to focus on the moving cursor, controlled by the tech support rep. He denied to himself that there was a faint blush that warmed his face as his mouth opened and closed like a fish.

_Say something, idiot._

“Oh, uh, yeah. Um… you too, Tachibana… -san.”

The tech support guy wasn’t flirting with him… was he? No, they had never met. Why would you flirt with someone you had never met? Especially someone you were only talking to because your job dictated it? Besides, Haru was pretty sure he gave away no indication that he’d be receptive to those attentions from another man anyway. Was this guy simply just that friendly? Sadly, this theory was equally as baffling to Haru as his outlook on people’s intentions were generally pretty cynical.

Before he could come up with a way to salvage his verbal clumsiness, Tachibana moved on.

“Well, Nanase-san, it appears the error is part of the RDS system and not something it’s allowing me to bypass. I will need to connect RDS directly to address that error for you.”

“Oh…”

And it was with momentary shock that Haru realized his initial knee-jerk reaction was to be disappointed that their phone conversation was ending and less about the problem not being fixed yet.

“But I will keep my promise and save your important work, Nanase-san!”

Haru heard the swift clicking of Tachibana’s fingers on his keyboard for only half a minute before the mouse cursor on the screen started moving again. Haru watched as the error message that locked up his server disappeared, along with the frozen RDS program. All of his other documents and folders still on the screen, saved from the imminent danger of a system reset.

“Well, I was able to get you out of RDS for now without a reboot so you have your work there. But I will work on this error some more to figure out what caused it. Can I call you back tomorrow on this line or would you prefer your work extension?”

Haru only had to think about that a moment really. It wasn’t a difficult decision. On his cell he could speak freely off the recorded work line. Plus, knowing Tachibana was going to save his personal phone number and call him back on it later did funny things to his stomach that Haru pretended weren’t pleasant.

“…This line is fine.”

“Wonderful! I promise I’ll figure it out and call you back. I really enjoyed talking with you today, Nanase-san.”

“Uh… yeah. Me too. ”

Haru certainly wasn’t at his most articulate. But every word out of that guy’s mouth was a ray of warm sunshine that left Haru with an odd jitteriness in his body. But he was determined not to end the phone conversation with the tech support rep having such an uninspired impression of him. Before the man could disconnect their call, Haru sat back in his office chair, forcing his body into a more relaxed posture.

“Hey, Tachibana.”

“Yes?”

“…Thanks for the break from work.”

There was no denying it. Haru was smiling. Not a smirk, not a grimace, and not the trite look of forced amiability that was his normal go-to. Haru smiled out of actual, even if temporary, happiness.

Tachibana chuckled once more, the sound a little lower and softer, as if they were sharing a much more intimate inside joke than it was. “It was my pleasure, Nanase-san. You have a wonderful day!”

Watching the call disconnect on his cell, Haru placed it back down on his desk. He probably looked like a total goofball at the moment but he didn’t rightly care. The error message, almost losing his work, making the feared phone call to a stranger, it had all been worth it. Plus, he would get to talk to Tachibana at least once more. Haru wasn’t prepared to call it a crush, considering it had been only a few minutes on the phone with someone he wouldn’t recognize passing him on the street. But at least it was a momentary diversion from his miserable existence that felt like an honest connection.

“Haru? Who were you talking on the phone with?”

Jerking his head up, Haru’s arms gripped the armrests of his office chair tightly. The whites of his knuckles being the only give-away that he was startled from Rin’s sudden appearance. The redhead held a mug up to his lips as his other arm leaned casually against the cubicle wall so that he could scrutinize his normally apathetic friend.

“Tech support,” Haru cleared his throat through the simple explanation, turning back to his screen to immediately click ‘save’ on all of his open documents. His RPPS report was officially saved. Haru silently thanked the kind rep in his mind once more for good measure since he would not have to repeat any of that work.

Rin looked unconvinced with his curt answer, one well-groomed eyebrow cocked in judgment. “…Really? You sure?”

“Yes,” Haru stated, straight-forward and firm in hopes that Rin would stop sniffing around for more information. He was a well-meaning friend, one of Haru’s only in fact. But in Haru’s opinion he could be rather nosey and forceful. Of course, Rin would insist that it was just to force Haru into the ‘world of people’ and to stop living like a veritable vampire. Honestly Haru just thought Rin got some kind of twisted pleasure from his attempts. “Why?”

“Because you sounded… _chummy_.”

_Oh god_ , he could see the tell-tale sign of Rin’s freakishly sharp teeth as his lips pulled away in a teasing smile. Haru knew he needed to nip whatever thoughts were going through that crazy head in the bud.

Trying his damnedest not to look up from his computer screen, Haru began aimlessly scrolling through his emails. Rin didn’t need to know that he wasn’t reading any of the words. “What exactly is the problem, Rin?”

“ _You_ don’t get chummy.” Haru knew without looking that Rin was full-on grinning. If he made eye contact now, all bets were out the window on getting him to leave. “So be honest. Who were you talking to?”

“Tech support,” he repeated, his voice stern and unwavering. Haru was only able to maintain his poker face through sheer force of will and not having to divert any of his energy to constructing an elaborate lie.

“Yeah, yeah, tech support. So you said. _But who?_ ”

Haru needed to get the attention off himself, fast and in a hurry. He needed to steer Rin away from the topic of his _almost-crush_ on the disembodied voice made of hot cocoa. His friend was sharper than he appeared and was latching onto Haru’s uncharacteristically friendly phone conversation with his shark teeth.

“Been to the gym lately?”

_Good one, Haru._

Rin paused at the question, leaving Haru to secretly bite the inside of his cheek. Haru wasn’t sure if his friend was going to call out his attempt to distract him. Holding his breath, he tried to play casual as he pretended to focus on his computer screen as he aimlessly moved some emails into separate folders.

“Yeah, I go five days a week. You know that.” The redhead pulled back from his heavy lean on the cubicle wall in confusion. “Why? You finally coming with me?”

Haru completely bypassed the offer and jumped straight to the subject he knew would clinch his win. “Finally work up the nerve to talk to your gym boyfriend yet?”

He wondered if he should be considered a bully or a sadist with how much he enjoyed Rin’s spluttering. When words failed his friend and gave way to actual choking, Haru reached a hand up to take the mug away from him. It was just as much to save himself from being dosed with hot coffee as it was to prevent Rin from spilling it.

“Don’t call him-! H-he’s not-!”

Rin hurriedly pulled himself together, trying to look as unperturbed as possible as he ran his fingers through his immaculately styled chin-length hair. Haru felt a sense of satisfaction when he noticed all the grooming didn’t help Rin hide the faint pinkness on his cheeks. He may often accuse his closest friend of getting his life’s enjoyment out of teasing Haru, but he knew that it occasionally went the other way around.

When Haru raised an eyebrow at his friend, indicating he was still waiting on an answer, Rin huffed and turned up his nose.

“No… I haven’t… But it’s just because I’m playing it coy. You know, build up the tension.”

“Uh-huh…” Haru mumbled, unimpressed and unconvinced. He handed the mug back to his now composed coworker and turned back to his computer.

“I’m serious, you jerk. I _am_ going to talk to him.”

“Sure, Rin.”

The blatant annoyance in Rin’s voice almost broke Haru’s composure. Haru had to fight back a smirk of satisfaction at both distracting Rin as well as riling him up because he didn’t want to give his game away, lest Rin continue his badgering about the call. But when his friend snorted in frustration before stomping away from his cubicle in an angry, red blur Haru finally allowed himself a pleased smile that not even his RPPS report could wipe away.

Haru – 2, Rin – 0


	2. Ticket Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru has his second conversation with the friendly tech support rep and he's worried it will be his last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So everyone I polled agreed that shorter chapters updated more often are better than longer chapters with longer breaks in between. And since I was killing myself with deciding whether this chapter should be about 10K words long or to just split it in half… well, here’s the first half! 
> 
> Also, the first OC is introduced here because I refuse to put a character I like in the role of “bad guy.” Just so people don't assume this character was supposed to be recognizable.
> 
> (Oh and SouRin is coming!)

Walking into the office the very next day, Haru knew he had a real problem on his hands. He swiped his employee badge to open the heavy door stamp with an “Employees Only” sign, the air-conditioning immediately hitting his body. The first thought that went through his mind as he stepped inside the building was the phone conversation he would be having at some point that day with a certain tech support employee. As trivial as a few errant thoughts about a complete stranger were for the average person, for someone as misanthropic as Haru it was profound. An introvert to the maximum level, Haru barely even sought out the company of his own friends. Though that was in part due to their ability to smother him with so much companionship that he rarely ever felt in need enough to seek it out on his own. He supposed he should thank them for never giving up on him.

But he didn’t see himself admitting that any time soon.

Haru walked down the musty hallway, heavy with the smell of old carpet and printer ink, toward the safety of his cubicle. His shift started a few hours after everyone else’s so he bypassed distracted coworkers without needing to pause for greetings, which worked in his favor. Something that did stand out as odd was the lack of red hair coming from the general direction of the Originations department. Rin must have switched his schedule for the day. It wasn’t all that unusual for his friend to alter his shift hours on occasion, depending on the demands of the department or if he had personal needs to schedule around.

Before sitting down in his chair, he pulled out his fully charged cell phone and placed it within easy on his desk. With one final glance at the blank, notification-free cell phone screen, he turned to his computer to login for the day. Absently he wondered how long it would take to get the call from the tech support guy. Yesterday he had called into their office well into the afternoon and Haru speculated that Tachibana was the type to be overly considerate of others’ schedules. Sighing to himself as he clocked in, he figured if that were the case he still had hours to go before that phone call.

It was a sad state of affairs when the one uplifting thing he had to look forward to in his day was waiting for a phone call from tech support.

But still, at least he had _something_ to look forward to. Most days he had nothing in particular. Most days Haru would just watch the clock count down to the end of his shift. Most days Haru knew that he was likely only going straight home after work. From time to time Rin would force him out into society for dinner on weekdays or socializing on the weekends, just to break up Haru’s monotony and isolation. But _most days_ Haru could be found in his apartment, with only his cat for company.

Which was why this sudden fascination in another person felt special to Haru. Not being the type to go out of his way looking for friends or lovers, Haru was normally perfectly comfortable in his solitude. It had never bothered him before. Well, it never bothered him enough to worry over it at least. He was still human and loneliness still happened, but his friends had always been enough for him. Yet suddenly he found himself looking forward to a phone call with a stranger. A stranger he was inexplicably drawn to, someone who seemed so different than anyone he had ever met before.

As tempted as he was to think their conversation meant something more (such as fate, destiny, or other such embarrassing fantasies), Haru convinced himself not to get his hopes up. Not only was there no guarantee that he’d ever talk to Tachibana again after today, but he would more than likely never get to meet him in person. Feeling somewhat vulnerable, he rationalized to himself that the only reason his thoughts were preoccupied with the friendly tech support representative was because of how long it had been since his last attempt at the silly ritual people called ‘romance.’ Perhaps this was just desperation.

Shaking his head free of those thoughts for the time being, Haru clocked in for the day and started the habitual daily process of opening all the necessary folders, documents, and links on his screen. After setting them up meticulously to begin his tasks, all seven necessary tabs in perfect working order, Haru found himself staring at his blank phone screen instead. A corner of his upper lip lifted as his eyes narrowed. He was being so embarrassing.

“…Maybe I should go get some water first.”

His chair barely moved more than a few inches out from under his desk before Rin burst out of the hallway and ran towards Haru’s cubicle. Only slightly startled by his friend’s uncharacteristic rush into the office (seriously, Rin was _never_ late), Haru tilted his head to the side in silent inquiry.

“Can I use your computer to sign in?”

Rin didn’t wait around to exchange pleasantries and immediately leaned his body half over Haru’s and towards the nearest one of two computer screens on Haru’s desk. Rin smelled strongly of his floral-scented hair product (possibly _multiple_ products, Haru guessed) and his obligatory morning cup of coffee.

“What if I said no?” Haru asked.

“You wouldn’t.”

Rin was so sure of himself, smiling as he pressed his body uncomfortably across Haru’s own in order to reach the keyboard and mouse. An elbow pressed a little rudely into Haru’s arm but the wall at Haru’s back gave him nowhere else to go. Rin quickly minimized all of Haru’s methodically placed windows in order to access the time-keeping page to clock himself in for the day. Haru watched his friend’s lips pull back in a victorious grin when he saw the time – only one minute after the hour, not yet considered late.

“How are you so sure?”

“You don’t care enough to stop me.”

Haru had to admit, Rin’s logic was flawless.

“By the way, you didn’t get your tech support buddy to unlock my system yesterday. I had to _reboot_ , Haru.” Rin finished logging his user profile off the page before standing upright again and out of Haru’s personal space. He leaned on the cubicle wall with one arm while the other propped on his hip like some sort of angry catwalk model. “For an _RTA_ , Haru.”

“…oops.”

Haru tried to feel guilty. Really, he did. But instead it just brought the tech support guy, Tachibana, and the looming phone call back to the forefront of his mind. The phone call he was _actually_ looking forward to. It took conscious effort not to check on his cell phone with Rin watching him so closely.

“You’re an asshole, you know that.” Rin glared with little actual venom behind it. That alone should have warned Haru to find some way out of continuing their conversation. “So to make it up to me, we’re going out for drinks tonight!”

He really should have seen that coming. Spinning his chair back around to his computer and rolling up to his desk, he sought to end the conversation before it truly got started.

“No.”

“You have no choice! You owe me!”

“How about I cook lunch for you next week instead.”

“I don’t _want_ mackerel, Haru. That would not be enough to make up a lost RTA and you know it.” The redhead actually growled at him with those words. Perhaps Rin wasn’t so forgiving about losing his work as Haru wanted to believe. “So you’re going out for drinks tonight! Besides, it’s Friday. You have no good excuse.”

A small, almost inaudible, moan escaped Haru’s throat as he turned leaned his forehead into his hands, turning his whole body away from his conniving friend. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Because it’s been nearly three weeks since our last night out. Plus, you know I can’t handle Nagisa on my own, especially if he decides to drink. And he listens to you for some reason.”

Was Rin talking about the same Nagisa Haru knew? Surely not. The ball of boundless energy, rainbows, and daisies all wrapped up in a short-statured blond menace that was Hazuki Nagisa? It was enough for Haru to glance over his shoulder with a disbelieving frown.

“You’re kidding right? He doesn’t listen to anyone. Maybe you should invite the guy from accounting instead if you want Nagisa out of your hair.”

“I’m not that cruel, Haru. You know he has the weirdest crush on that guy. The man would have no peace whatsoever.”

No, he didn’t know that Rin was apparently not _that_ cruel. It sounded like a perfect set-up to Haru.

“Oh? Nagisa is the _only one_ with a weird crush?”

Maroon eyes narrowed into slits and Haru felt he was caught in the crosshairs. His friend was not playing around with the invitation-turned-command. Rin wasn’t even distracted by Haru’s attempt at bringing up Rin’s own infatuation. “Shut up, Haru. You’re going.”

Haru wanted to keep fighting it and normally he would have put up a better struggle. Forced socialization, while harmless and on occasion proven to be enjoyable, was still forced. Besides, Haru refused to stop being difficult about it every time his friend insisted on ‘making him have fun’ just on principle. He couldn’t let Rin think it was ever going to be an easy feat. But this time he did owe Rin. If he hadn’t been so distracted by Tachibana, he would have remembered to ask for Rin’s profile to be unlocked as well as his own. However, Rin and his RTA was nowhere near entering his thoughts during that phone call.

So Haru supposed he was going out for drinks. Could be worse though. Thank god Rin didn’t mention going to a dance club. A night of just drinks with some coworkers was already an improvement. However, just because Haru was giving in didn’t mean he couldn’t negotiate.

“As long as Shigino isn’t going,” he offered, casually moving his mouse from where Rin had pulled it to the edge of the desk and back over to its original position to begin the process of returning all of his tabs to their rightful place.

“That’s not nice, Haru.” Haru could _feel_ Rin roll his eyes at him and it almost made him want to smile. “Kisumi is a decent guy. I don’t understand your issue with him.”

What wasn’t to understand? The guy acted way too casual with him and it was creepy. Just because the guy knew Rin since high school didn’t mean that by proxy Haru was somehow his new best friend. They were _not_ pals or buddies or whatever Shigino liked to call him. They were just coworkers with a mutual friend. Haru knew he was probably blowing everything out of proportion but he just didn’t open up to new friends easily and Shigino just rubbed him the wrong way. Too friendly, too suspicious.

“He tries to tease me too much. I hate it.”

“I tease you a lot too.”

“…Not the same.”

Rin sighed in a heavy, overly dramatic way, acting as if understanding Haru was simply beyond him. “Fine, I won’t invite him this time because _you’re going_ and I’m not in the mood to physically drag you out of your apartment. Besides, I have great news to share!”

Haru raised an eyebrow and turned back to his friend to inquire. “About your gym boyfriend?”

The emotion on the redhead’s face changed instantly. Rin didn’t even display the micro-expression he would have normally graced Haru with at this point for using his crush as a means of steering the conversation away from himself. No annoyance, no frustration, only youthful excitement. Haru figured his news must be exciting. Honestly, Haru was just impressed Rin didn’t spit it out earlier rather than focusing so doggedly on getting Haru to agree to drinks later. Maybe Rin finally worked up the courage to talk to the mysterious gym patron that caught his eye weeks ago.

Rin leaned even lower on the cubicle wall, the cheap structure squeaking just a little under the pressure. Rin suddenly resembled one of those characters straight of a romantic comedy movie that he every so often forced upon Haru. Specifically one of those characters that gave off a glittery aura and looked on with a love-struck spark in their eyes as they waxed poetic about the amazing qualities of the person they were in love with. Rin’s genuine smile and smooth red hair falling in purposeful disarray around his face was, to Haru, no different.

“Yeah! So, listen, I decided to go to the gym a little later than usual last night and-!”

“Nanase!” a woman’s stern voice interrupted.

Both men glanced up from their private conversation, looking and feeling caught. When they saw Haru’s manager, Himura Ro, glaring at them from her desk diagonally positioned to Haru’s a few rows over. It was far enough away that Haru could duck behind his walls if need be to avoid eye contact. But it was certainly close enough for her to monitor him like the nosey micro-manager she was.

If there was any manager in the office that was a good reminder that the unofficial motto of the company was ‘if you’re having fun, you must not be working’, it was Haru’s manager. With her overly coiffed black hair, judgmental dark brown eyes, and permanent false smile, she was the antithesis of everything Haru stood for. Shallow, power-hungry, and on a constant authority high ever since her promotion, Haru had become her Enemy Number One. If only she could take a hint that he was not interested in competing with her and back off, perhaps they could at least pretend to have a normal amiable boss-subordinate relationship.

In lieu of actually speaking, Himura crooked her finger to indicate her command that Haru come over at once.

_Rude_. He didn’t appreciate the silent summons but managed to sigh quietly enough to keep it to himself.

Rin stood up from his comfortable position on the cubicle to make a private expression at his friend, screwing up his face with a scowl and eye roll. “Good luck, buddy.”

“Yeah…”

With no work actually started yet, Haru walked away from his computer without the need to obsessively save anything. He did, however, pocket his cell phone. Just in case.

“Yes, Himura?” he asked as he approached her desk, noticing the subtle twitch of her eyebrow at his lack of polite suffix on her name. Haru was normally a respectful guy, but he very firmly believed there was a difference between politeness and groveling. And he knew Himura was not looking for politeness. Haru had learned to rebel in his own way, even if it was just a few miniscule moments of nonconformity in his otherwise apathetic attitude towards his boss.

“I received an email that you opened a helpdesk ticket yesterday but you never told me. I think this is something I, as your manager, should know about. Did it only affect _your_ computer?”

Ah, the classic ‘calling into question the legitimacy of your system issue to determine why you weren’t working’ strategy. She really should come up with new material.

“No, Rin also tested it out and received the same error.”

“But _he_ didn’t open a ticket.” Her acrylic nails drummed on the desk as she leaned to the side in her chair, scrutinizing him. Haru wondered if that was meant to intimidate him.

“No, I called them directly as both our computers were locked up and our desk phones could not be used.”

He stood still, refusing to be the first to break eye contact as she narrowed her eyes further, her dissatisfaction palpable. “I see… And is the problem fixed?”

“I am able to continue my reports for now. The technical support rep is supposed to reach back out to me today to let me know when the RDS error is fixed.”

Haru honestly couldn’t fathom why she cared so much, caring especially enough to question him time and again about such infinitesimal details. His boss did manage on several occasions to break through his thick layer of apathy and cross into being a consistent source of frustration though. So he employed his best deadpan tone coupled with an acceptably blank face. Not only did he have the gratification of refusing to give her the reactions she wanted, but the reminder that he would spend another few moments of his day on the phone with tech support was the cherry on top.

She pursed her lips in thought, as if deciding whether or not she’d grant him approval to do so, but the stress between her eyebrows, the angry furrow they caused, gave her away.

“…Fine,” she said as she straightened in her chair, straightening her pencil skirt as if it had any wrinkles in it to begin with, and waved him away. “Next time, you should communicate this to me as well.”

Haru wanted to ask why in the hell he needed to do that. Every employee in the entire company from the bottom rung on the ladder all the way to the top had the ability (and _obligation_ ) to open help tickets when there was a system issue. They were reported and logged as proof of the error, confirmed it was being addressed, and utilized to research patterns of larger system issues. She obviously received the information so the normal procedure and chain of communication was working just fine. What more did she need? She wanted to be the only manager in the office to make her department ask for _permission_ before getting assistance? Or maybe it was just her animosity with Haru.

“Fine.”

As much as it was an annoyance, Haru stopped caring long before she became his boss. She was fighting a one-sided battle, one in which Haru refused to participate in.

* * *

Managing to direct his focus on his RPPS Report, Haru had temporarily forgotten about the impending phone call. That is, until an hour into his steady work when his cell phone vibrated harshly against the laminate top of his desk, startling him from his concentration. The screen flashed with the caller ID reading _Karo IT_.

Gingerly picking it up, Haru was glad no one was witness to the flash of panic on his face before he forced himself to answer it. “…Hello?”

“Good afternoon, Nanase-san! How are you?” Tachibana’s peppy voice asked through his phone. Haru had to bite his lower lip to keep from smiling to himself. Just hearing the other man’s sincere greeting on the other end of the line somehow undid every wrong he experienced since he woke up that morning. Other people in his pool this before work? Didn’t see them. Found out he was out of mackerel? Never happened. His boss trying her best to antagonize him first thing on his shift? Not even on his radar.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Nanase-san.” Tachibana’s laughter stopped and the warmth in his voice receded just enough to bring Haru back into the present. “This is Tachibana again. From yesterday? I suppose I should have said that first…”

_Crap_ , he must have been mute for too long again. His silence leaving Tachibana to think that somehow Haru had actually been able to erase the other man from his memory overnight. The exact opposite, really. He really needed to improve his communication skills, Haru thought to himself. After immediately realizing what just went through his head (seriously? Haru improving his ability to _talk to strangers?_ ), Haru’s fair skinned cheeks warmed up just enough to cause him to duck further behind his cubicle walls.

 “Ah, it’s ok,” he replied as he cleared his throat through his embarrassment. “I knew it was you.”

“Oh, good! I hope your Friday is going well so far. I know it’s still early yet, of course. Oh! I didn’t call you at a bad time, did I? If you’re not on the clock, like if you’re on break or something, I could just call you again later. I should have asked _that_ first instead, I guess. Oh, gosh, I’m just awful today! I’m so sorry.”

Haru couldn’t stop the quiet laugh that bubbled out of his chest at the tech support rep’s continuous rambling and concern over whatever level of social protocol he thought he needed to follow, especially with Haru of all people. The sensation felt nostalgic somehow, as if he had gone much longer without laughing than he actually did. It wasn’t just the laughter, of course. And Haru knew that. It was much more than that. Somehow within the first minute of only their second conversation, his emotional barriers were being bypassed as if they never existed and he felt like some ridiculous high schooler.

“Tachibana, it’s ok.” Haru found himself pressing the phone tighter against his ear as he practically laid his torso over his desk and out of sight from all prying eyes. His other hand picked up his blue felt-tip pen to nervously fidget with the cap, the clip on it already broken. “You didn’t interrupt anything important.”

“Ah, I’m glad.” He could almost imagine, when he closed his eyes, the shy but pleased smile on the other man’s face. Haru wondered what he looked like. “Well, I have the solution to your error message mystery from yesterday. I wanted to walk you through fixing it, if you have time. I think it will make you laugh, to be honest.”

“Oh, sure.”

Curiously Haru sat up on his desk just enough to pull the keyboard and mouse over, the RDS program already one of the seven tabs open on his screen. He had been wondering to himself how he could possibly keep Tachibana on the phone as long as possible, but had come up with not one possible solution (save for crashing his system again with a brand new error pulled out of thin air). It seemed that Tachibana had found the answer for him, even if it lacked the same intent.

“I have it pulled up now.”

“Ok, so go to the exact same client account from yesterday.”

That was easy enough. He saved the cursed task from the day before that caused the whole ordeal at the very top of the list. With just a few clicks the right client account was pulled up on his screen and this time he was anticipating the error message that would surely show up. “All right, I’m there.”

“Now do you see that there’s a co-applicant?”

Blue eyes immediately glanced to the exact tab heading where the co-applicant could be found, the number ‘1’ showing on the heading indicating the existence of one co-applicant. His interest on how this could have anything to do with the error piqued his interest and confusion.

“Yeah, I see it,” he started, clicking on the heading to pull up the information listed under that tab. “Oh!”

Haru was pretty sure that he immediately noticed what Tachibana wanted him to see. His trained eyes immediately locked onto the discrepancy. The full name, date of birth, and the social security number of the co-applicant were all complete duplicates of the name of the primary applicant on the account, still visible to Haru at the top of the screen. “…What in the world did someone do this for?”

Tachibana laughed deep from his chest, not the soft and amused chuckle Haru had grown used to hearing. Somehow this sound was even better and had Haru’s toes curling in his shoes. The discomfort, bordering on pain, as he pushed his toes against the sole of his shoes provided a less than sufficient distraction from the butterflies taking up residence in his stomach.

“I was hoping you could tell me. I saw the call notes on this account from another counselor mention needing to remove the co-applicant from the program but I didn’t understand creating a duplicate entry to the primary applicant at all.”

“So, wait. You’re telling me…” When Tachibana’s laughter spilled back out at Haru’s interjection, most likely spurred on by the humorous shock and disbelief in his tone, Haru couldn’t help the corner of his mouth turning up as well. “That all of the error messages I was buried in yesterday and that caused my system to lock up… was because of the name entered for the co-applicant?”

The laughter subsided only long enough for Tachibana to answer, “Well, in simplified terms, yes.”

“…That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.” And with that, he had Tachibana chuckling once more. It was an unusual high for Haru to feel like he was making this man laugh, never having been accused of having any sense of humor before. Yet Tachibana understood him, saw the humor in his biting words, sarcastic responses, and deadpan reactions. Somehow Tachibana thought he was funny and that felt so good.

“I have to admit that I was also caught off-guard when they told me that. I was not even able to get an exact answer from them on why it just _now_ locked up when numerous other counselors had been in this client’s account prior to you without the error appearing.”

“Wish I could say I was surprised.” Haru huffed out, amused. “So I just have to change the co-applicant’s information here and it’ll finally allow me to change the creditor status?”

“Yup! The system was just conflicted on the duplicate client names listed as the account holders. Once this information is changed so that they don’t match, you should be able to complete all of the normal actions with no trouble!”

“I hope so,” Haru smirked as he clicked away in the co-applicant information in order to remove the duplicate information, the phone all the while pressed tightly against his ear. “Otherwise you’ll have to rescue my reports again.”

“Don’t worry, Nanase-san. It would be my pleasure to save you again.”

_Thump-thump._

“…Ah.” Haru’s heart pounded heavily against his ribcage as his fingers stilled over the keyboard. Was this flirting? He didn’t have enough experience to be able to tell. The reaction of his body sure wanted it to be flirting. There was an odd fluttering in his stomach while his heart continued to thud in his chest. One of his hands reaching up to hold the cell phone he had been carefully balancing between his head and shoulder and slow sat up straight, blinking unseeingly at his screen. Haru’s other hand moved to grip the edge of his desk as he momentarily forgot what he was doing.

“Nanase-san? Is everything ok? Did it work?”

“Oh!” And there he goes, being completely silent and awkward once again. “I’m sorry! I didn’t… um… I mean, I’ll try it now.”

“Ok!” the other man chuckled, most likely at how Haru tripped clumsily over his words. “I just wanted to make sure it worked for you before I closed your ticket.”

It only took a few more seconds for Haru to save his changes in the co-applicant tab of the client’s account before finding the creditor he recalled from the task information, repeating his exact steps from the day before. Haru blinked as the system allowed him to make the change, nary a system error message in sight. It meant his system wouldn’t lock up, it meant he could continue working in the program without risking losing his reports, but it also meant Tachibana’s responsibility was over.

“…It worked.”

“Great! I’m glad I was able to get that fixed for you, Nanase-san.”

Here it was, the end of the system error, the last of their conversation. With the solution of the program issue came the end of their only reason to communicate with one another. Flirting, not flirting, it didn’t really matter because Haru actually _enjoyed_ talking to him and that alone was something extraordinary. No longer being the detached, mute teenager he used to be, the one that used to avoid human interaction at all costs, Haru didn’t want to hang up the phone and never talk to Tachibana again. He didn’t want the tech support guy to remain a stranger, a mystery. Haru didn’t want to hang up with regret, forever wondering ‘what if.’ Therefore, Haru saw no reason not to open up just a little, as frightening as the vulnerability was, and just slip in an offer to talk again sometime. Or to tell him to save his cell phone number. Something. _Anything_.

“I already typed up the closing report for your ticket but I wanted to walk through fixing the error with you before I sent it to you. You know, just in case something went wrong, of course. Which it didn’t, so that’s good.” Tachibana huffed at himself, the sound carried over the receiver and landing softly in Haru’s hear. “It looks like everything works fine. So I guess I can email you the closing report now.”

Despite feeling beyond stupid for it, Haru continued to sit frozen in his chair. He willed his mind to create words, any string of coherent words, but it refused. He was at a complete loss as to what he could possibly say to convey what he wanted. ‘ _Please don’t stop talking to me?_ ’ Haru was not experienced in this at all. And to make matters worse, his mind was trying to convince him that maybe, just maybe, Tachibana’s rambling was his own way of showing reluctance to end the call. Maybe they _both_ wanted to talk for longer. Or Haru could have just been projecting, hopefully wishing.

“Your work email is the one we have on file, right? The one with your first initial and family name?” the other man asked, his voice soft and careful, when Haru continued to not respond.

Faced with a simple yes or no answer, Haru reflexively answered and ended his awkward silence. “Um, yes. It is.”

Haru heard him hum in confirmation followed by a few gentle clicks of the keyboard as Tachibana prepared to send him the email. _Say something, Haru. Do it! You’re on your own cell phone, your nosey boss isn’t listening in, and this could be your only chance. Just say something!_ He berated himself mentally, his fingers fidgeting with the cap of his pen so forcefully that it shot out of his hand and rolled onto the carpet beneath his desk. Blue eyes didn’t bother trying to track the cap and instead concentrated hard on the back of his cubicle wall as he forced his mouth open.

“Hey, Tachibana…”

“Yes, Nanase-san?”

_Oh my god, what do I say? I probably sound like a fool._

“Thank you… for helping me…”

Haru winced and slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead. How much more awkward could he get, really? ‘ _Thank you for doing your job that you’re paid to do_.’ Haru was going to excuse himself from this desk and go find the nearest hole to crawl into the moment this conversation was over.

“Ah, you’re so welcome, Nanase-san. You have a wonderful day!”

“…You too.”

A gentle click and the flash of his cell phone screen indicated the end of their conversation and the end to whatever might have been. Letting out a disappointed sigh, Haru gingerly placed his cell phone back down and slumped over his desk to press his cheek against the cool laminate. Before his misery could truly set in, an email alert popped up on his screen. With a cursory glance he saw it was from tech support, the closing report for his help ticket. He wasn’t kidding, Haru realized. Tachibana really must have had it already typed up and ready to send, holding back just for the sake of making the phone call first. For some reason, that brought a smile to Haru’s face.

Out of curiosity, and a desire to ignore his growing disappointment, he clicked on the alert to read the full email. His eyes skimmed through the typical information as fast he could, searching for what, he wasn’t sure. Skipping most of the technical mumbo-jumbo at the top of the email he found Tachibana’s summary at the very bottom.

_Reached out to RDS._  
Determined error to be with the duplication of client information into the co-applicant.  
Error caused by system having duplicate information assigned as account holders.  
Contacted Nanase-san by phone to walk through the solution.  
Confirmed it was corrected and action completed.

And right below the rest of the summary, at the very bottom of the resolution report, was the tech support representative’s automatic email signature. A professional email signature that was standard at the bottom of all work emails. Except this one was about Tachibana, the man who managed to haunt his thoughts for two days straight.

_Tachibana Makoto  
tachibana_m@karoit.com_

Makoto… his given name was Makoto. Haru felt his face become embarrassingly warm with discovering this personal detail. The man’s name was almost as feminine as his own. Meaning ‘sincere’ or ‘genuine,’ it somehow fit him so perfectly, so beautifully. Why didn’t he think of asking him for his name? He surely knew Haru’s from being inside his work profile. Just that question alone would have been worlds better than simply thanking him for his help. God, he lost such an opportunity, one he would probably not be given again any time soon.

“Hey, Haru?”

He didn’t mean to react the way he did. He didn’t even have any real reason to do it. But his inner turmoil was interrupted so suddenly that he physically jolted in his chair, his back going rigid as wide blue eyes sought out the unexpected voice. With growing mortification, he realized that not only did he react uncharacteristically ( _no one_ is able to startle him, _ever_ ) but his hand that had been gripped around the computer mouse reflexively closed out of the email as if to hide something secretive from prying eyes.

Guilty behavior if ever there was one.

Haru knew the blush on his face was still there, not easily overlooked on his fair skin. It wasn’t like he had he been looking at porn or any other questionable websites. It was an email from tech support, for god’s sake. But there he was, acting completely guilty and caught over it.

Could it be any more embarrassing?

 “…Haru, what in the hell are you hiding?”

_Fuck_. It was Rin. It just _had_ to be Rin. Of course it could be worse and the universe was out to prove it. It had to be one of Haru’s only friends that caught him in a vulnerable moment of strange behavior. And out of all of them, it had to be the one friend who would push him until he caved and confessed everything. _Great_.

Though some part of Haru felt the need to remind him that it was this friend who would understand and sympathize with him more than anyone else would. So there was that.

“…Nothing.”

Not that he believed with one breath inside him that Rin would buy it but he did not need to be forced to spill his guts at work with the possibility of others listening in. Dark red eyes narrowed at him, fierce and unforgiving, and Haru supposed he couldn’t blame him for being concerned. Haru accepted he was acting downright strange.

“…After work.” Haru licked his lips and held onto the computer mouse tighter, a tether to keep him grounded while in the very public space of his office. “I’ll need that drink.”

The redhead nodded, eyebrows still drawn in concern but his mouth softened at Haru’s promise to talk later.

It was going to be a very long shift. Haru could tell.


	3. A Drink with Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Haru and Rin have an epiphany over drinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than the previous ones. Somehow it was still a complete pain in the ass to write. But I hope everyone enjoys it anyway! 
> 
> And you should know what's coming after this. *wink wink* No? Well, you will! Get ready!

The bar was located downtown on an ‘up and coming’ street frequented mostly by young professionals. It was situated just far enough away from the local universities to avoid the rowdy college crowds, saving them from drunken fraternity brawls and underage teenagers trying to sneak past security. It was an Irish-themed pub, a pretty rare establishment even in bustling Tokyo. But it served artisan beer on tap that Rin insisted was top shelf and some of the best quality bar food around.

Even with the small 3-piece band situated in the corner providing smooth rock ambiance, the noise of the other bar patrons was somehow kept at a respectful and comforting hum. The background noise of the pub coupled with the cool evening breeze that drifted in from the open windows from the street created a mellow atmosphere that Haru usually enjoyed. A cold mixed drink in his hand, tucked away in the corner of wooden booth, Haru really should have been in a better mood.

Surrounded by his friends as they occupied the corner-most booth on the bottom floor of the city pub, the evening turned into a reunion of sorts as Gou had just came home from university for break. Younger than Rin by five years, she had become an honorary little sister to Haru himself over the years, though she was long past needing any help with homework. Half-way through a journalism degree, Gou was every bit as ambitious – and stubbornly independent – as her brother and only travelled back home to visit her family on holidays. Her own brother hadn’t seen her in person for months.

But as excited as she had been to see them all again, Haru was pretty sure her eyes had not wandered from her cell phone for at least the past 10 minutes. Whoever she was texting must have been important.

With that thought, it was enough to remind Haru of just what he was there to drink to forget.

“Nagisa, let go of my beer.”

“But Rin-chan! I’m old enough to drink! I just want to have a sip of your beer, for taste-testing purposes!”

“Let go of my beer because it’s _mine_ , Nagisa. I had a rough week and I need this.”

Rin gripped his frosted glass, a deep amber beer picked off the seasonal menu that he tried to tempt Haru into tasting, and slid it further toward the edge of the table away from Nagisa. The persistent blond man had leaned as far over the table as he could from where he sat diagonally across from Rin in his attempt to steal a sip of it. Haru knew most people had a hard time saying no to Nagisa, what with how freakishly young and innocent he looked. Plus the man knew how to make his large, expressive eyes work in his favor. But this time Rin was not budging.

“Besides, you’re the one who volunteered to work on a Saturday morning. You don’t need to go in hung over,” Rin further scolded, determined not to give in to the other’s normal tricks. Haru had to commend Rin for staying strong in the face of Nagisa’s puppy eyes.

Finally giving up though, most likely due to the actual logic in Rin’s admonishment, Nagisa sat back down on the bench next to Haru with a pout to sip at his (purposefully non-alcoholic) soda. His beer now safe from grabbing hands, Rin switched his focus back over to Haru, who had been quietly moping for most of the duration of the night.

“So are you going to finally tell me why you’ve been acting so weird?”

Rin’s expression was softer and his eyes brighter than he had been earlier. Haru knew his friend was growing increasingly worried. He had to concede that this friend more than any other person probably recognized the difference between his normal quiet nature and the glum silence that he had been wallowing in since the end of his shift. Not to mention he knew Rin would normally have already turned the conversation toward something more animated or rousing had he not been focused on the unspoken issue. Such as his own crush, ‘gym boyfriend,’ as he was lovingly coined. Or at a minimum towards complaints about work, which was a common theme to their Friday night outings.

Haru paused to think about the question. He really did want to get his frustration and disappointment in himself out into words. And Rin would know better than all others what it meant for Haru to care so quickly about another person and how devastated he felt at losing such a potential connection. But even with the bit of alcohol in his system soothing his stress levels, he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to confide in his best friend at the moment. At least not in front of Nagisa and Gou. He really only wanted to keep the audience to his misery to the bare minimum. So he took another sip of his strong cocktail and shook his head, black hair falling into his eyes.

“C’mon, Haru. No matter what it is, you can tell me,” Rin soothed. The redhead leaned further over the wooden table from where he sat next to his sister and into Haru’s personal brooding space.

The consoling tone in Rin’s voice must have caught Gou’s attention as her head popped up from the cell phone screen her eyes had been focused on as her fingers paused in their feverish typing. Suddenly Haru had both Matsuoka siblings now locked on him with obvious worry in their nearly identical crimson eyes. Gou’s eyes, a shade lighter than her older brother’s, were wide in surprise and confusion as her eyebrows rose on her face, hidden by her bangs.

“What’s wrong, Haru? What happened?”

That’s when Haru felt the weight of Nagisa suddenly barrel into his side, arms wrapped tightly around the arm he didn’t have gripping his glass. Only having time enough to open his mouth and sigh, Haru found himself forcefully bombarded with concern and encouragement from all sides.  

“Haru-chan, we’re all your friends! We’ll help!” Nagisa happily chirped in his ear.

Taking one last cautious glance around the table, to the only people he could call friends, Haru decided to throw caution to the wind. Really, what more did he have to lose. He supposed risking slight embarrassment in front of his friends was nothing at this point. After chugging the rest of his drink down as fast as he could, to the amazement of everyone else, he placed the glass heavily on the table and dared to breach the topic aloud.

“…How do you know if you have a crush on someone?”

Rin instantly sat up straighter in his seat and blurted out, “I knew it! _I knew it!_ You’re talking about your friend in tech support!  That’s who you were on the phone with today and yesterday, right? I just KNEW it!”

Haru’s eyes glared with blue fire over to his loud, and probably buzzed, friend. “Stop it, Rin. Who says I’m talking about him anyway?”

“And it’s a ‘HIM!’ Ah, finally the story is coming out!”

There it was, Rin’s shark-toothed, knowing grin. Damn him. Haru changed his mind. He no longer wanted to talk to Rin about it at all. In fact, all he wanted was another drink. But before he could raise his hand to indicate another round to a passing server, at his side Nagisa gasped so deeply Haru actually worried he wasn’t breathing for a moment.

“Haru-chan! Do you have a crush on someone?! I’m so proud of you!”

“Wha-?”

Haru’s words were cut off when Nagisa threw himself at Haru once again, wrapping his arms around the unwilling participant’s neck. Nagisa nuzzled his blond hair into the side of Haru’s head as he giggled. Haru attempted to pull back from the overwhelming affection but Nagisa was not easily swayed and his grip remained firm. Unwilling to cruelly push one of his friends away (even if he was irritatingly clingy), Haru just sighed in defeat and gave into it. Telling Nagisa to stop had never worked much in the past anyway.

“I wouldn’t call it a crush… I think,” he mumbled grumpily.

As Nagisa giggled in response, Gou’s shock already melted away. She waved Haru’s statement off with a well-manicured hand. Obviously no one believed his statement. Haru wasn’t sure he did either but he still hadn’t figured it out yet. After all, he never even met the man. Could you have a crush on someone you didn’t know? It was just _something_ , some kind of real connection. Haru thought maybe that even worse than crush.

“Sure, sure! Whatever you say,” Gou giggled, swaying once again into her brother as they both shared a knowing glance. She leaned onto the table with fiercely curious eyes, her hands tucked beneath her chin, “Tell us about him anyway! It’s an extraordinary thing for someone to grab _Nanase Haruka’s_ attention and your friends demand to know!”

“That’s just it…” Haru bit his lip and shrugged one shoulder, Nagisa loosening his grip to give him space despite still being stuck to his arm. “I don’t know anything about him…”

“Wait, wait, wait. So the tech guy you’ve been talking to, you’ve never met him before?” Rin asked incredulously, the smiling slowly fading from his face to give way to honest surprise. “I thought maybe it was an old friend or something with how happy you seemed to be.”

Haru shook his head and averted his eyes from his friends. He settled instead to drawing designs in the condensation on the side of his empty glass. Never having been good with words, Haru couldn’t begin to describe to Rin his two short conversations with a stranger and how it felt. It was, well, it was like he woke up a little. It didn’t even make much sense to Haru but that was the only way he could describe it. He had spent so long not caring about much of anything, just mindlessly living every day of his life, feeling trapped in an endless cycle of monotony.

But then this man he didn’t know was just so… _different_. Different than anything in Haru’s life thus far. Sure, Rin was a fireball of motivation and energy. His friend still had dreams and was fiercely determined to reach them. He still had an interest in participating in life, not letting a single moment go by, and tried his best to share some of that with Haru. Rin was a small joy in his life, even if they did spend a lot of time annoying each other. He was his best friend. But for himself, Haru had felt past any hope of being interested in actually _living_ , instead of merely existing. He figured he’d be a salaryman, forever stuck in his dead-end job, uninterested in life, dreamless, and miserable for the rest of his life. Just the same old, same old until he died.

For as short as those two conversations were – and despite never having met that kind stranger with the amazing voice – Haru had felt the spark of interest that hadn’t been there in years. As if he was waking up from a dreamlike state and realizing what he had complacently let his life become. It was as if the man on the other end of the line felt the same. His talk about taking a break from work instead of the normal drivel about the weather or the traffic, told him that man knew how it felt. Maybe even knew how Haru felt. Like there was maybe a connection that went both ways. And whatever kind of connection that was, it was enough to want it again. To at least see where it went. To at least give it a chance.

Gou twirled a strand of her long red hair as she tilted her head in thought, observing Haru in his retreat back to silence. “Are you going to be talking to him again?”

Unable to hold back the drawn out sigh, Haru once again shook his head. God, he should have said something during that phone call.

“Wow,” Rin whispered, almost in shock, “He must have been something, huh.”

Rin didn’t know the half of it.

Gou cooed apologetically as her brother sat quietly. The sudden hush over the table felt awkward and gloomy, but Haru didn’t feel much like talking any more.

“How romantic!” Nagisa bounced up, finally releasing Haru completely from his capture.

As usual, his effervescent personality and optimistic outlook on life refused to succumb to the overall decline in the atmosphere, despite the twin crimson glares sent his way for not reading the mood. Nagisa meant well, Haru knew that, but it didn’t stop him from frowning at his hyper friend.

Nagisa continued on, unperturbed, “Maybe it’s fate! You know, with Ama-chan’s maternity leave and all.”

Haru watched with disinterested eyes as Rin cocked an eyebrow and scowled at the blond, groaning out, “What are you on about, Nagisa?”

“Oh! Well you know Ama-chan is going on maternity leave, right? And we’ll be left with no tech support representative on sight.”

Haru suddenly gave his full unwavering attention to Nagisa, his blue eyes sharpened and locked on the sweetly grinning face. Nagisa in all of his unrestrained enthusiasm often lacked tact and was the definition of impish, but Haru knew that he wouldn’t interject with this non sequitur for no reason. With another bounce to bring his legs under him on the bench seat, Nagisa sat up higher in his excitement. The blond politely continued to address the group, despite Haru knowing that the information was obviously intended for him.

“Didn’t you guys hear that they’re going to bring in a substitute while she’s on leave?” Nagisa asked in mock judgment, as if he couldn’t believe that the rest of them weren’t up on the latest workplace gossip. But really, he should have known how little Haru would have cared. “Well, anyway! Her leave wasn’t supposed to happen until next month. But something must have happened after her last doctor’s appointment because today was her last day! I guess you didn’t hear.”

Nagisa giggled, his hands quietly clapping together as he grinned with unrestrained enthusiasm. Haru noticed that Nagisa kept flicking his eyes over to the side, the blond giving him meaningful glances that he still didn’t quite understand.

“…And?” Rin encouraged him to continue, obviously not following his younger friend’s train of thought.

For his part, Haru was still watching Nagisa like a hawk. His eyes were wide and body frozen motionless as he tried to determine what he Nagisa could have been implying.

“Aaaaand…” Nagisa teased, leaning over the table to the point that he was nearly laying atop it, his face lit up like the sun. “Maybe Haru’s mystery tech support man will be there! I mean, how many reps could they possibly have on hand that’s already familiar with our company’s programs, right? It’s not like we’re that large of a company so I’m sure there’s only a few people they could choose from!”

_That was true_. Haru sat up straighter, his small mouth slightly hanging open and that butterfly feeling back inside his stomach. It was no guarantee but it was _more_ than true and just promising enough to stave off the feeling of loss that had been building in his chest. There was a real, actual possibility that he could _see_ Tachibana Makoto. Actually _see_ him. In his small office. On Monday. If truly given this second chance, Haru swore to himself that he would _definitely_ say something this time.

And, well, if not. He may decide to take drastic measures. Haru was sure he could create some kind of reason to contact the man again. With Nagisa being so hopeful about it, Haru found that the feeling was somehow infectious.

With that, Haru felt just a little bit lighter.

All around him, his friends continued chatting on without him. The mood revitalized, everyone returned to easy laughter and lighthearted discussion, mostly about what the likelihood would be that any one specific rep, ‘Haru’s mystery man’ in particular, would be chosen for the task of replacement. Gou giggled in delight about how it sounded like the perfect set-up for some television drama – or maybe a comedy! Rin insisted that it would never be an exciting enough set-up, (“an office story, seriously?”) to be a television show, but if it was it would _of course_ be a romance instead.

Haru snapped back to his senses only when deep magenta eyes leaned into his personal space. Nagisa leaned close to Haru’s face with a kind and knowing smile. Haru knew this was his way of checking in on him, just as was his design with the tech rep replacement story to cheer him up. Haru wasn’t very good at looking on the bright side but Nagisa was an expert.

Haru immediately leaned back on the bench and tried to school his facial expression back into a countenance that didn’t bare all of his feelings. He bit into his bottom lip with a little extra force than necessary. It may have been worth letting his secret out, receiving the support of his friends and learning that fate may possibly allow him one more chance, but now Haru really did require another round after such embarrassing talk.

* * *

One round of drinks later, everyone had moved on from talk of Haru’s possible ‘date with destiny’ on Monday, much to Haru’s relief. Haru didn’t even have to try in order to steer the conversation after that, the laughter and friendly atmosphere loosening everyone even more so than the drinks.

It seemed that Haru was, once again, thankful for Rin’s insistence that he leave his lonely apartment to spend time with the people who mattered to him. Haru glanced over at the man he called his closest friend as he leaned into his younger sister, the two of them laughing at another of Nagisa’s jokes. Sometimes Haru was honestly taken aback at Rin’s persistence to not give up on his reclusive ways. Haru wouldn’t necessarily say that Rin was more stubborn that he was, but he was exceedingly persistent.

Nagisa shared more stories about the mischief he caused as a child, which then led to stories of the mischief he caused just last week. Even Haru chuckled behind his hand at Nagisa’s description of everyone showing up for the early morning shift, no one’s computer mouse in his whole department working, all because he came in early to tape paper on the bottom covering the laser pointer. Gou mostly talked about how her classes at university were going – and of course she was doing just as great as her brother knew she would. When Rin started probing into her personal life, checking up on her in that loving/annoying way older siblings were wont to do, she strongly insisted that, _no, she was not currently dating anyone so Rin could just calm down_.

Ah, speaking of someone’s love life. That reminded Haru about the teaser Rin had shared earlier in the day. He figured he needed to return the favor and prompt his friend into spilling his guts.

Being sufficiently buzzed and relaxed, the warm tingling sensation from his almost two full drinks filling his chest and limbs, Haru pushed his nearly empty second drink away from him for the time being. The cold glass dragged beads of water from the condensation along the grain of the wood table. Propping his head up on his fist, Haru touched the water with delicate fingertips as he began tracing designs on the table surface with the water.

 “So Rin…” Haru started. “Let’s hear the news about your gym boyfriend.”

“Gym boyfriend?” Gou immediately repeated with an amused raise of her eyebrow as she leaned right back into her brother, her sober reflexes so much faster than Rin’s.

Before Rin could even open his mouth, his eyes already wide and lit up with the reminder of one of his favorite topics in the world, Nagisa interrupted with glee. The blond bounced once in his seat, his legs now permanently tucked beneath him, as he was incapable of sitting like a normal person in a chair, and leaned across the table.

“Rin-chan has a secret crush on a guy at his gym!” he explained to a completely delighted Gou. Haru couldn’t determine if she was more excited about the prospect of her brother entangled in his own dramatic love story or if she just wanted something to tease him about.

“My dear older brother has a crush and I’m just now hearing about it?” she giggled, her eyes sparkling as she softly nudged her brother in the shoulder.

Haru scoffed, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. “A crush? I’d say it was far past being a crush. He’s a borderline stalker.”

Rin’s mouth fell open as his eyes narrowed aggressively to stare at Haru from the other side of the table. The look of offense just added to Haru’s enjoyment.

“I am not!”

“Are too.”

Rin’s eyes further sharpened, the crease between his eyebrows strong as he all out glared at Haru. But with the alcohol in his system, the expression wasn’t quite as scary as Rin probably meant it to be. The appearance softened into a mere annoyance, no strong scowl pulling at his lips, only a pout akin to an agitated child. Haru would have definitely continued the juvenile back-and-forth if Rin insisted. Rin wasn’t the only one riding a wonderful mellow buzz at the table.

However, Nagisa was too excited to share in the details of Rin’s potential love life to let the conversation derail and chose to completely ignore the staring contest. He and Gou leaned onto the table towards each other, the wood holding steady at both of them leaning heavily on its support, to continue gossiping.

“Rin-chan hasn’t worked up the courage to talk to him yet but he _always_ looks for him at the gym.”

Haru’s smirk was small but sharp, “Like I said. Stalker.”

Before Rin could lunge at him across the booth to take their childish banter to the next obvious level of a physical tussle, Gou distracted him and successfully tore his gaze away from Haru by grabbing onto her brother’s arm tightly. “So what’s so special about this guy at the gym, Onii-chan?”

But Haru was on a roll. His mind was afloat with optimism and booze so he couldn’t help himself from mumbling more unprompted comments under his breath. “Knowing Rin? He’s probably just the most available-looking guy.”

Rin was clearly not amused, though Haru could tell he wasn’t exactly angry either. Honestly Rin was probably just tired of Haru joining in on the conversation at his expense. “Haru, you’re an asshole when you’re drinking.”

“Just dishing it back out, Rin.”

“Asshole.”

“Rin-chan! Focus!” Nagisa laughed as he threw a balled up napkin at the sidetracked redhead. “I thought you said this guy was special! Didn’t you say that he was different than any other guy? _Tell us!_ ”

“Pfft,” Haru huffed in disbelief before lifting his glass to his lips, swallowing the last gulp of his second drink.

Rin glared just once more in passing before he let passion take over his answer, completely turning away from Haru to address Nagisa directly. Haru didn’t take it personally. After all, he had his fill of Rin gushing over the gym rat on a near daily basis anyway.

“Don’t listen to Haru! He _is_ different. He is this stoic, serious, thinker-type guy. He always looks so _focused_. Plus, he’s just so damn hot!” Rin leaned over the table, his arms stretching across to the other side as his body melted into a love-struck puddle. “I mean, _so hot_. If working out were a competition, he should have just gone home because he _won_ , the battle is _over_.”

This guy was starting to sound more like the Incredible Hulk than just some exercise-obsessed guy like Rin. Besides, Haru had a hard time picturing this man not resembling the large, green fictional super hero with how Rin described him, especially considering Rin himself was in great shape and wasn’t easily impressed.

“Are you sure this guy is real?” Haru interjected, recapturing everyone’s attention. “Maybe you’ve just fallen asleep too many times while watching late night MMA fights.”

But Rin was just too involved in his half-drunken day dream for Haru’s jab to bother him. “OH! You know, I bet he _would_ make a great MMA fighter!”

Nagisa and Gou had a serious case of the giggles, their laughter nearly uncontrollable. Haru wasn’t sure what they were enjoying more, Rin’s animated story about the supposed strongest man in the universe that attended his gym or Haru’s rarely released biting witticism.

Managing to control his merriment just enough speak again, Nagisa wiped unseen tears from the corners of his eyes and asked, “So what’s your news then, Rin-chan?”

Once again, Rin perked up. “Oh! I finally got his name!”

Gou, still chuckling, swayed into her brother’s side. “Ah, did you actually talk to him, Onii-chan? I’m so proud!”

“Rin-chan was probably super charming and asked him out!” Nagisa waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Well… no. I didn’t talk to him…” Rin reached a hand up to run through his light mussed hair, his eyes averted for only a moment as admitted to not being able to actually confront the man yet. “But he was leaving the locker room when I was walking in after work yesterday and I saw which locker was his. And his family name was on it – Yamazaki!”

Tiling her head to the side, the long strands of hair that settled on her shoulder sliding off, Gou paused a moment in thought. “Wait. Yamazaki? You don’t happen to mean the personal trainer guy, do you? Dark hair, really tall, broad, flawless deltoid and pectoral muscles?”

Everyone at the table got quiet for a moment as they considered Gou’s words. Rin especially was struck dumb as he blinked owlishly at this little sister.

“Oh if that’s him then Onii-chan’s descriptions are definitely all true.” She nodded and crossed her arms in a position of serious contemplation, continuing without concern. “He’s a beautiful specimen of human musculature, for sure.”

In a flash Rin was leaning over the shorter figure of his sister, his hands gripping her shoulders and his sharp eyes suddenly rounded in astonishment. “Gou… Are you saying you _know_ this guy? That Yamazaki is a personal trainer and you _know_ him?!”

“Well, not personally,” she consoled with a nervous chuckle at his fervor as she leaned her face away. “I mean, he’s a pretty quiet guy and isn’t very social. But Yamazaki Sousuke is a cross-fit trainer at the gym Chigusa works at so I’ve seen him around when I visit her.”

Rin looked absolutely beside himself. Haru knew it never would have occurred to Rin that the man he had been admiring from afar would have any connection to someone he knew that he could have exploited _so long ago_. Not only that, but suddenly Rin knew his name and occupation now. Rin’s face lit up like a child’s on his birthday.

Before Haru himself could say it, Nagisa was chuckling once again. “I think Rin-chan is suddenly developing an interest in cross-fit.”

“Of course he is!” Gou grinned, winking over to her blond co-conspirator.

Without any snark whatsoever to be found on Rin’s face, he nodded in agreement, much to the delight of everyone else. “I have an opening to conversation now, at least. But… Gou. Do you know if he… um…”

“Likes boys?” she asked with a raise of her eyebrow, looking suddenly far too similar to Rin with her sharp, teasing expression. “No, I don’t know… But you’re so pretty Onii-chan, that maybe he’ll like you either way!”

“I swear to god, Gou!”

Everyone at the table burst into another round of laughter, even Haru was unable to hold back his mirth. Of course that was exactly when the server approached their table to check on their drinks, a little bewildered by the sudden peals of boisterous laughter. When she approached to ask if any further refills were needed, Haru waved her away. The last thing they needed were any more drinks.

“You should try talking to him, Rin.” Haru encouraged once everyone had calmed down. He leaned on his fist over the table top and offered a small, honest smile. “Talking _about_ him won’t help get you a boyfriend.”

“I _will_ , Haru! Get off my back!” Rin bit back, his pleased grin giving away his excited anticipation. “Che, it’s not like you have any love life so who are you to talk anyway?”

That deserved a well-earned glare. Really, that jab was just low, considering. Haru decided to be compassionate and just assume it was the booze talking. “Just say hi to him. It’s not that hard.”

“Just saying, weird advice coming from you.”

Haru shrugged. That was fair enough. “If I liked someone as much you seem to like him, for as _long_ as you’ve liked him, even I would try.”

“Really?” Rin asked in obvious disbelief. “Are you going to talk to the tech guy if you see him on Monday?”

“Yes.” Haru credited the alcohol for the fact that he didn’t feel the least bit of anxiety about the thought of walking up to Tachibana to talk to him _face-to-face_ , even if it was just hypothetical.

Rin pursed his lips, silently considering Haru’s determination before continuing his interrogation. “Are you going to try to talk to him again even if he _doesn’t_ show up on Monday?”

Ah, there it was, the nervousness, the social anxiety he was expecting. Not seeing him on Monday would mean that Haru would have to reach back out to him without the ready-made excuse of seeing him for the first time in the office. He would have to find some way around explaining that he just really wanted to talk to him again, to _keep_ talking to him. It was a level of vulnerability Haru hadn’t experienced in years. The thought had his heart pounding just a bit harder than usual inside his chest.

At this point Haru couldn’t say if it was the liquor in his system, the determination to talk to Tachibana again, or simply the unspoken challenge in Rin’s words, but he knew his answer. “Yes.”

Rin’s eyebrows rose just slightly as he blinked at Haru, surprised but scrutinizing. It reminded Haru of an apex predator gauging weakness, sizing up a challenger. Then the corner of Rin’s mouth lifted into a broad smirk, eyes bright and sharp teeth bared.

“Ok, Haru, you know what? You’re on.”


	4. The Cross-Fit Gym

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin works up the courage to do the thing!

Rin wasn’t good at relationships. No, scratch that. Rin wasn’t good at _successful_ , _long-term_ relationships. Casual ones, he could do. Spontaneous sex, friends with benefits, casual dates, or something in between with no expectation of any permanent commitments. In fact, he would consider himself a pro. An expert, if you will.

It had nothing to do with having an ‘allergy’ to love, as some of his friends had teased. Kisumi in particular claimed that Rin had a phobia of ‘catching feelings,’ asserting that Rin would drop the guys he dated as soon as any kind of attachment began to form. Rin tried to argue. He insisted his pattern of short-lived relationships that ended quicker than a cancelled season of some failed reality show had nothing to do with some unconscious fear of commitment. And it certainly was not why he couldn’t seem to settle down with someone. But after years of hook-ups and weekend flings, the damage was done. His reputation as an uncatchable predator of men’s hearts, incubus to some and shark to others, was firmly stamped to his name.

Still, it wasn’t on purpose. Rin didn’t craft this reputation knowingly. True, his longest relationship was only seven months, during which he never once confessed to any deep, earth-shaking emotions as what was expected of him. And it wasn’t that he didn’t try. They just never worked out and Rin was not a person to try to force a relationship that wasn’t meant to be. He knew he wasn’t the most compromising guy and he was probably frustrating to his more serious of past partners since he refused to settle for less than what he wanted. So perhaps he wasn’t completely free of blame.

What was he supposed to do then? Date a guy who hated dogs? Who never worked out a day in his life? Who was still completely in the closet and expected Rin to be as well?

Or worse, a guy who wanted him to give up his dream for the sake of their relationship?

_Yeah, right._ Rin scoffed. _When pigs fly, Haru stops swimming, and he decides to pursue a life of panhandling on the local street corner._

So there didn’t really seem to be any helping his reputation at this point. If not compromising on his goals in life meant he would forever be the uncatchable bachelor, flitting from one lover to the next all while maintaining a life of perfect independent, then fine. Rin would worry about crossing that lonely, desperate bridge, the one where the rom-com movie character worries about growing old and dying alone, when he gets there.

However, what bothered him more about it was that he knew his easy-in, easy-out revolving door of relationships weren’t the truth about him. Well, not the _whole_ truth. He _wasn’t_ afraid of falling in love – or of commitment. At least, he was pretty sure he wasn’t. He didn’t exactly have a history of prosperous relationships to prove otherwise. But still, he knew that wasn’t what he wanted.

The truth was, Rin had a secret heart, as sensitive as it was unwavering. One that consumed those classic romance stories, from Shakespeare to Jane Austen to trashy harlequin romance novels as if they were oxygen. A heart that would put a catch in his throat during those moments when the setting sun would hover _just so_ behind the cherry blossom tree outside his living room window, the light dispersing through the tree in a way that made him feel like a character right out of a sappy love story.

The truth was, what he wanted most in the world was something that all his ambition couldn’t get him: love. 

* * *

A blast of cold air hit Rin as he stepped inside the gym early Saturday morning. He held back a shiver at the change in temperature and shifted his gym bag further up his shoulder, shoving his hands into his pockets as he made his way inside the lobby. Following his sister’s recommendation (though he would never tell her as much) he had forgone attending his own local gym and opted to take the train a little further out to use a different branch location under the same gym company. Specifically, the one where Chigusa worked.

Not because their facilities were larger, of course. Not because they had an extra spin class or an aerobic dance studio. And certainly not because they had a smoothie bar located onsite. No, he was here only because Gou assured him that this was the gym where his mystery man – _Yamazaki Sousuke_ – worked. Because he was determined to break the ice and finally talk to quite possibly the hottest man he had ever seen. Because there was no way he would challenge Haru and not immediately take action. Because he was _Matsuoka Rin_ and he had quietly pined long enough.

Once he got home after the night out with his friends, he had planned his course of action. He cut himself off after two beers and downed plenty of water, luckily avoiding any hang-over. He even managed to wake up that morning feeling oddly refreshed and energized, as if he were about to hike up a mountain, scale a cliff-face, or kayak down a waterfall. But there were no tests of physical agility or prowess planned for this day, merely the imprint of the mystery man’s name on his mind – _Yamazaki Sousuke_ – and the determination to make his interest known. So his resolve strong and body ready, he forced himself out of bed and to the gym.

From behind the wide reception desk at the front of the lobby, its top a clear pane of thick blue glass to match the décor of the gym, sat Chigusa herself. The girl had been best friends with his younger sister for years, dating all the way back to when she transferred into Gou’s class their last year of elementary school. They were immediately attached at the hip, hardly ever found apart even outside of school. It had become completely routine for teenaged Rin walking them both home from school together.

Rin immediately recognized the purposefully disheveled top knot of light brown hair over the delicate features of the young woman’s face. Her expression was one of distracted boredom as she balanced a sparkly, pink pen between her upper lip and nose, her eyes glued to the computer screen in front of her as she leaned heavily on her arm, chin propped on her hand.

It only took her a moment to notice his presence, the pen dropping down to the desk as she blinked in recognition. Her composed appearance melted into excitement, her smile unrestrained, accompanied by a bright sparkle behind her pale blue eyes.

“Why hello there, Rin-kun,” she tilted her head to the side, her grin growing as her eyes narrowed just the slightest. “Haven’t seen you in my gym in a while.”

Rin nodded, watching as Chigusa picked up her pencil to begin twirling it in her fingers. His gut feeling immediately warning him something was off. Her smile was somehow teasing, too pleased for her to be honestly surprised at his arrival. Glancing down at the desk to avoid prolonged eye contact, Rin saw her bright pink and orange cell phone resting on top of a nearby stack of papers.

A mental image of his younger sister, looking far too eager and scheming, came to his mind. Chigusa probably knew he was coming, likely before he even got out of bed that morning, and it was all Gou’s doing.

It wasn’t that he was embarrassed, per se. He flirted with and dated plenty of guys in the past, none of which he went through any grand effort to hide. And he had never been a particularly shy guy. Gou even knew about a few of his past flames, though she quickly lost interest after realizing the relationships were casual and temporary at best. Rin was not ashamed of who he was or who he was interested in, but even he had to admit there was something disconcerting about having your baby sister suddenly become ring-leader to a wider audience to witness his attempt at flirting with and picking up a man he wasn’t even sure ‘played for his team.’

It was just enough to throw him off-balance as he continued to stand there awkwardly in front of the lobby desk.

“Hey, Chigusa. How’s it going?” Rin cleared his throat as he tried to sound casual, suddenly very conscious of his voice and body.

When she continued to just grin at him, the sparkly glitter pen twirling in her nimble fingers, he huffed and averted his eyes, just barely managing to keep his face from blossoming into varying shades of red. He leaned over the desk and into the space of employee-use only to pick up a random locker key. Chigusa didn’t bother to stop him as Rin continued the normal sign-in process. He signed his gym membership number on a clipboard along with the locker key number, all while he avoided eye contact with the delighted woman.

Rin had to repeat to himself that learning more about his mystery man was worth Gou gossiping about his love life with her best friend.

“The cross-fit room is at the back, next to the basketball court,” she randomly commented as she tapped the pen against her chin.

Rin pursed his lips and schooled his expression. So he was right; she did know.

“You know, I think the last cross-fit class just ended, actually.” Chigusa tilted her head to the side in false innocence as she spun around in her desk chair, one leg pulled up to rest on the seat. “So you just missed it, which is a shame. But I suppose you could always talk to the trainer about setting up your own appointment.”

He wished his body didn’t react so quickly to her words, his head immediately popping up to make eye contact with her. She was still grinning like the cat that ate the canary and Rin hated her for that. But at least she was being usefully informative and Rin loved her for that. No wonder she and Gou got along so well.

“Uh… I’ll think about it,” he tried his hardest to sound casual about it, though he wasn’t sure why he even bothered at this point.

Adjusting the strap of his gym bag, he turned away from her and her soft giggles. He felt her light blue eyes follow him all the way to the double-doors as he swiped his membership card to enter the gym. The familiar smell of disinfectant, muscle cream, and gym equipment along with the soft noise gym patrons soothed some of his anxiety. Coming to the gym no fewer than five days a week, it was practically a second home. His normal workout regime was, however, the last thing on his mind.

Rin made his way to the locker rooms, situated near the very front of the expansive gym layout, to stash his belongings and to set his plan in motion.

* * *

Passing through the large main room packed with the standard gym equipment he knew so well, Rin followed the signs to the cross-fit room. Passing the free-weights, followed by the stretching mats, Rin made his way into the inner hallway. Doors lined both sides separated only by bulletin boards that posted different class schedules. He continued until he reached the end of the hallway and two large gym doors, one with a small window showing him the basketball court and the other solid with a piece of paper taped to it reading ‘Cross-fit Gym.’

Not allowing himself to hesitate he swung open the door and entered the large room. With the unexpectedly high ceilings and unpainted walls it felt more like a warehouse compared to the rest of the immaculately decorated facility. The walls lacked the pretty paint job of light-blue pinstripes that continued through the rest of the compound and were instead a plain off-white on all sides except one of exposed brick. The floors were concrete slabs with certain sections covered in interconnected squares of multicolored foam padding. There were even thick heavy ropes, knots tied in even sections running the full length of the material, that appeared to be tied to beam from the ceiling that hung all the way to the floor. And was that rubber he smelled?

Curious eyes scanned the expansive room, passing over more than a dozen gym patrons who appeared to be wrapping up their individual routines. With so many people moving around the space, it was difficult to spot the trainer he was looking for.

Rin had only taken a few steps further into the room when the ground softly trembled under his feet, coupled with a heavy thud that seemed so much louder in the spacious room. A man had rolled a massive tire (which probably belonged to a commercial-sized tractor, judging by its size) into a corner of the room and let it fall to the floor out of the way of the equipment.

Well, that explained the rubber smell.

Having lost focus for just a moment, Rin was brought back to the present when the last group of people began to file out of the room. He stepped further aside to allow them to pass to the exit even though not one of the pack were paying him any attention. It was mostly tired smiles and friendly jokes amongst themselves until they turned to call back into the room.

_“See you next week, Yamazaki-san!”_

_“Bye, Yamazaki-san!”_

_“Ah, Yamazaki-san, sorry we’re all leaving. Do you need any help?”_

With a silent gasp crimson eyes widened, Rin’s head whipping around to see the lone figure of a man left behind at the shelves in the back of the room. He was extraordinarily tall, clad in light-weight cotton pants and a dry-fit tank that exposed the impressive musculature of his arms and chest. The fact that his hair was slightly disheveled and his skin glistening with light sweat did absolutely nothing to tarnish his beauty. In fact, in Rin’s eyes it only emphasized his raw sex appeal as his mind wandered to thoughts of his fingers taking grip of that short black hair and pulling his head back to expose that thickly toned neck to lick a strip of sweat-drenched skin from his collar to his ear.

Rin shivered at the mental image but was determined to not be distracted.

“I’m good here,” Yamazaki chuckled, just the barest hint of a smirk on his face as he spared only a quick glance over his shoulder to the group. “See ya, Sanada-san. And you better take care of that knee, Date-san!”

Rin watched as one of the other men laughed and waved over his shoulder in agreement, the throng of gym patrons finally leaving the gym empty save for himself and Yamazaki. Now the question that burned in Rin’s mind was – the direct approach or the slow burn? How did one approach a man of unknown sexual orientation for the purposes of a proposition?

He figured he’d split the difference.

Yamazaki continued to organize the weights back onto the large shelving from where they rested on the floor. With only a cursory glance it appeared that they were arranged in some kind of particular manner, though Rin was not at all interested in anything other than the personal trainer himself. He watched as Yamazaki paused in his cleaning and cursed lightly under his breath. He rubbed his right shoulder for just a moment before hastily stacking the remaining weights on top of the previous line he made, no longer attempting to be neat and precise about it. Using only his left arm, his right hanging at his side, he stacked them hazardously on top of one another.

In the blink of an eye, the unsteady pile of weights shifted. Some of the smaller, lighter weights on the top shelf easily rolled on their sides, forcing their mass against the neighboring weights, causing a domino effect of all the equally smaller weights to topple against one another. Due to their unique shape being mostly rounded, a small waterfall of colorful weights began to roll right off the shelf and onto the padded concrete floor below. Yamazaki’s arms lunged out automatically as he tried to stop it from happening. He managed to only to catch one of the bunch that dove for the floor using only his left hand as he swiftly pulled his right against his chest. Seeing no real damage done to foam padding, nor the concrete below it he presumed, Rin could see why this part of the gym was designed in such a raw fashion.

The personal trainer sighed, cursing under his breath once again, sounding more defeated than angry. Then he paused and straightened his back with the one weight he saved in hand, a stoicism returning to his body language. Any indication of embarrassment on his face was well hidden beneath the warm flush of his skin from the recent work-out and the serious mien on his face.

“I said I got it, Sanada-san,” he bit out, the words harsher than how he sounded earlier.

Rin cleared his throat, realizing he was mistaken for one of his pupils. “Yamazaki Sousuke?”

“Oh, sorry.” The man’s tone immediately easing up as he set the weight in his hand on the shelf in the cleared space where others used to be. “Yes, that’s me. Who...?” The trainer turned in place to see who he was addressing and trailed off, his eyes finally locked onto Rin for the first time since his arrival.

The trainer appeared to have been caught off-guard, his mouth slightly agape and eyes wide in surprise. More than the softening of his expression caught Rin’s eye. He had never ogled Yamazaki from so close before and found himself mesmerized by the color of his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of sea-foam blue or teal or something. And they were bright, standing out from his warm skin tone and dark hair like a beacon, back-lit as if by some kind of magic.

A few heartbeats later and it appeared that Yamazaki was still frozen. Rin couldn’t be sure if it was a good omen, a sign of his improving odds or just wishful thinking. But he at least had the man’s attention now.

“Need help picking this stuff up?” Rin asked, putting on his best smile as he tucked some of his hair behind his ear.

Yamazaki blinked back into reality, shaking his head clear as he glanced down at the mess of weights on the floor. “No, No, I got it. I can-”

Rin watched as Yamazaki hurriedly pushed some of the weights to the side on the shelf, making room to set the others without bothering to straighten the ones still knocked over and lying precariously near the edge. It took only a moment for two new ones to roll right off, pushed aside by the new weight added to the unstable stack. They both watched in silence as the rest of the multicolored weights that remained on the shelf shifted and stopped, the second crash ending quicker than the first.

The trainer’s shoulders slumped a bit as a noticeable pink warmed his cheeks. So the man _could_ blush. He was cute.

“…Yeah, that’d be good. Thanks.”

With a soft chuckle, Rin walked up to stand right next to the other man as they both began to straighten the weights that still remained on the shelf to make room for the ones that laid strewn across the padded floor. When the rounded weights were set upright Rin noticed there was a small portion of flattened base, the only flat part of the otherwise circular shape, just opposite of the thick, curved handle on the top, which allowed them to balance. Though he had never used these particular type of weights, Rin was positive he had seen them before but couldn’t remember what they were called. He had just decided to use that as a conversation starter when Yamazaki cut in first.

“I’ve never seen you around here before,” Yamazaki said, clearing his throat as he finished straightening the weights on his half of the shelf. “I mean, this gym specifically. I thought you usually go to the west branch.”

Rin’s eyebrows shot up as he tilted his head over to look at Yamazaki straight-on, catching the personal trainer glancing curiously at him. This was becoming more and more promising, he thought as a bright smile stretched across his face.

“Oh, so you’ve seen me,” Rin replied, unable to keep his tone from being just a little teasing.

Yamazaki nodded once, his face returned to an unreadable neutral expression as he turned away for thoughtful moment before answering. “You’re there almost every time I am.”

“I suppose I am.”

Despite what seemed to be an indifferent expression and neutral tone from the trainer, Rin could not help but smile in response, feeling his cheeks bunch below his eyes. He was beyond pleased to have been noticed by this man, no matter the reason. Unable to help himself, Rin mirrored Yamazaki’s movements as they both bent down to retrieve the fallen weights, feeling Yamazaki’s gaze on him the entire slow descent to the floor. Whether it was out of curiosity or something else, Rin wasn’t yet sure. And with no definitive responses to his mild flirtations thus far, he wasn’t confident that his affections would be considered, let alone accepted.

_A slow burn it is_ , he decided. At least he was noticed though, much more than he anticipated coming into the gym that morning.

Losing Yamazaki’s gaze only momentarily as they grabbed for a few weights, he watched as the personal trainer stood back up with a small groan, multiple weights held in each hand this time whereas Rin only picked up two. Following his lead, Rin set the weights he held back on the shelf, careful to make sure they were well balanced to avoid a third spillover.

“I’m sorry,” Yamazaki’s low voice grumbled, as he finished organizing the shelf. “But I seem to be at a disadvantage here. Your name is?”

“Matsuoka Rin,” he answered with a confident smirk on his face.

The trainer nodded politely and responded with a quiet ‘ _nice to meet you_ ’ as he picked up a white hand towel from the next shelf over to toss around his neck.

“Need any more help with the clean up then?”

“Ah, no, that was it for now,” Yamazaki explained, wiping at his face with the towel. “But, thanks.”

The entire time Rin kept his eyes to him, trying to determine if the hulk of a man was honestly shy or just terrible with conversation. There was no warmth or color to Yamazaki’s face to indicate another blush but the man’s carefully averted gaze told him he was either flustered or bored. Rin felt like a shark circling its prey in the water as he studied the other man and it honestly gave him a bit of a rush. It had been far too long since the last time a chase was this exhilarating or risky.

When Rin noticed Yamazaki make his way toward the exit of the cross-fit room, stopping to grab a large water bottle along the way, he fell in step.

“So… you’re a cross-fit trainer here. Then why do I see you over at the other gym during the week?”

“Oh, I’m just part-time at this gym.” Yamazaki paused to swig water from the bottle as Rin watched, captivated by the thick corded muscles in his neck, leading down to his broad shoulders. “But when I want to work-out in peace, away from members of my class, I go other places.”

“I get that,” Rin nodded, humming in agreement.

He completely understood the need to focus on himself for a while, free of social obligations. The west branch of the gym chain that Rin normally frequented was considerably smaller than this current one, certainly less impressive, but it was also quieter and had a smaller community patronizing it that lent to its peaceful atmosphere. For Rin it worked out well that it was also the one closest to his apartment.

Yamazaki pulled a small key ring out of his pants pockets, the delicate jingle sound feeling louder in the absence of conversation. Rin continued to follow his lead as they walked side-by-side to the exit when the trainer suddenly paused, his head turning to lock his eyes with Rin’s again.

“Wait, did you come here to join one of the cross-fit classes? Because that was the last for the day.”

“Well, that’s…” Rin started, considering his answer carefully, as he placed his hands on his hips unconsciously.

He had never gone that far to pursue someone before, never having had this kind of challenge. Was he really going to join an exercise class just for the chance to snare this man? He much preferred his work-out routine to be free of socialization. As exciting as it was, it did leave him feeling a little vulnerable as it required him to put even more of himself on the line without even being sure of where the other man stood. He had to ask himself if he was going to go so far as to change his schedule, his routine, and throw himself into a some new work-out craze all to seduce a potential new flame.

He didn’t have to mull over the thought long, his eyes traveling up the well-built form of the personal trainer. How could a man with such a perfect triangular torso of pure muscle, built like god, not be worth it? Besides, he didn’t come all this way to introduce himself and then merely disappear when faced with an obstacle.

“I mean, I’ve never done it before,” he finally answered with false insecurity, batting his long eyelashes at Yamazaki. “I usually just stick to the basic equipment when I’m in a gym.”

Rin couldn’t help but revel in the mild surprise that immediately crossed Yamazaki’s face as it lifted his eyebrows and softened the lines around his mouth.

“That’s ok, it’s really beginner friendly.” The hint of a smile touched Yamazaki’s face, lighting most of the shadows and erasing the remainder of the creases caused by his frowning. It immediately made Rin mentally pat himself on the back for his split-second decision if that’s what it got him. “And you’re already in great shape so you shouldn’t, um, have any trouble.”

Yamazaki’s eyes then did a quick once-over Rin’s form. It was quick and didn’t linger on any specific part of his body, but the stare was bold and unapologetic, the trainer not having made any attempt to pretend he was doing otherwise. Embarrassingly, Rin’s body responded with an unseen tremble that raced down his spin. Oh god, someone was going to need to resuscitate him. He didn’t care if he was reacting like an anxious teenager.

“Thanks…” he answered quietly, a softer smile pulling at his lips. The two of them stood still for multiple heartbeats, silent but for the low hum of the air conditioning above them.

The trainer just stared at his face another moment or so before clearing his throat and turning back to the exit. He lifted his hand with the key ring, communicating his intention to lock the door, as he motioned for them both to step outside the empty room. Once in the hallway, the noise from the nearby rooms carried more easily, breaking whatever spell Rin had been under. A spell he was hoping they had _mutually_ experienced.

“I have an appointment to keep today but there’s another, smaller class on Monday and Wednesday.” Yamazaki explained as he locked the large door behind them. “It’s in the afternoon at 4:30pm so that’s why I usually finish my work-out at the other gym in the evening.”

Rin considered his work schedule. Even with the flexibility he had with his shift, the earliest he could get off work and make it all the way to this gym would be 6pm at best. Perhaps it would be better to stop beating around the bush, to just end the chase and ask Yamazaki to dinner. The only hesitation Rin had was knowing it could all end so quickly if the answer was no.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to get here in time after work.” Rin bit his lower lip gently, tugging on it as he glanced up through his lashes. “Maybe we can come up with something else instead?”

Once again Yamazaki’s eyebrows rose near his hairline as his downturned eyes widened. Rin wondered what it said about him that he was beginning to enjoy surprising the personal trainer just as much as he enjoyed ogling his gorgeous body. Knowing he could get the man’s complete focus to shift to himself, stealing his thoughts, was such a stroke to his ego. Seeing Yamazaki react so clearly taken aback without any sense of disgust or confusion to be found, was beyond encouraging as well. If he were _this_ satisfied by the act of flirting with the man, he could only hope that shocking him with his many hidden talents in the privacy of his bedroom would be even better.

“So I guess… Maybe instead I could,” Rin began, mentally running through his flirtation repertoire as he licked his lips.

“It’s ok if you’re late,” Yamazaki cut in on his thoughts almost urgently. “You know, whenever you’re able to get free. I’ll save a spot for you. So you should still come.”

Blinking, Rin glanced up at the other man. His previous train of thought completely forgotten. Yamazaki seemed closer, as if leaning into his conversation with Rin, those teal eyes locked onto his. Yamazaki’s words were firm, insisting, and genuine in a way that caught Rin off guard. Yamazaki didn’t seem to notice Rin’s less than subtle come-ons at all. Instead it seemed that the trainer honestly wanted to encourage him to join the class, ready to accommodate his work schedule for it and everything. Rin felt a surprising twinge of guilt for having put on even the slightest dishonest act of innocent flirtation. 

Rin had originally been contemplating ways to seduce or persuade this man into his bed, wanting to ride that big body until he wore the trainer out and his long-denied infatuation subsided. It hadn’t meant more to him than the shallow appreciation of his body from a distance. But he didn’t plan on the man being quite so… unassuming? Intriguing? Innocent? The personality of the “stoic gym guy” was not quite as cold or hard as he expected. Even with all of Rin’s knowledge and skill, he was at a loss in the face of the trainer’s honest and friendly invitation.

“I should?” he asked quietly.

“Well, even if you miss most of the class, I could just give you an introduction to some of the exercises after everyone else is gone. I have time on Monday nights so it wouldn’t be a problem.” Yamazaki’s large shoulder shrugged subtly as he twirled the gym key between his fingers before pocketing it. “You know, just enough to catch you up with the group, if you want.”

All hesitance rushed out of Rin and he found himself smiling, brightly and honestly. Trying new things could be good for him, he decided. Even if it meant changing his personal, ritualistic work-out routine and joining a class.

“Sounds like a date, Yamazaki.”

He had yet to see the man’s mouth stretch into a true smile, one that meant Yamazaki was truly happy. Rin wondered what his visage would look like covered in contentment rather than the protective barrier of indifference. Somehow that seemed way more tempting than his earlier, and much dirtier, day dreams. Yet Rin was convinced that right at that moment, he could see a softening in Yamazaki’s expression into something more open, something more real. A look that Rin really enjoyed. His wide, thin lips were no longer pulled down into as deep a scowl and the tension between his eyebrows lessened. Yamazaki seemed younger with some of the stiffness melted away.

_He was beautiful._

“See you Monday then, Matsuoka,” the trainer replied, even his voice seemed softer, gentler than before.

Rin nodded mutely and watched as Yamazaki walked away, his feet frozen to the floor. Crimson eyes didn’t waver as the figure of the man got smaller and smaller until he turned out of the hallway. He wasn’t even sure how long he stood there in that empty hallway after the trainer left, feeling off kilter but kind of okay with that.

If he were to be completely honest, Rin didn’t show up to the gym that morning assuming he would actually complete a normal work-out routine. Depending on how successful the interaction turned out, he would have gladly left at Yamazaki’s side, ready and willing. He didn’t often jump into things with new people quite _that_ quick, but for Yamazaki he would have made an exception.

But now it felt like there was more. Instead of being Rin’s next one-night stand, maybe he could be his next flame. Next boyfriend. Or maybe Yamazaki could be the one to…

_No_ , Rin chided himself. He had learned that lesson before. It was better to protect his heart from expectations. Looking forward to getting to know the man was acceptable, fantasizing beyond the temporary would get him in trouble.

Despite having parted ways with only the promise of more time together, even if it was outside the realm of a romantic rendezvous, Rin wasn’t sure he was ready to leave the gym yet. A giddy rush filled in his body that he had to expend before he lost his mind. A run, a good hard run. That would probably help. But first…

Rin dug in his pants pocket, pulled out his sleek black phone, and typed a quick message to Haru. He knew the quiet recluse would take a while to read it, let alone respond, but the triumph he felt was no less glorious.

_‘First date locked. Your move, fish for brains!’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone who is still here for the end notes, I have a special announcement to make! I didn't want to share it on social media until it was OFFICIAL and, hey, what more special way then to put it in my newest chapter?
> 
> I have quit my awful, terrible, no-good job and I am going back to school!
> 
> Don't worry, of course. My job left me with enough material to finish this story (and then some) and I am determine to wrap this up until every single character is happy and content! After, of course, they experience a few bumps along the way. 
> 
> But I want to thank everyone for sticking with this story, despite my update schedule being unreliable. I had been going through some tough things with my job up to this point. So this is a way to celebrate!


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